Articles

By Captain Nicole Meszaros

The skies over North Bay, Ontario will be busier than usual starting today as the largest Air Force Search and Rescue (SAR) exercise of the year takes place at 22 Wing North Bay for the annual National Search and Rescue Exercise, dubbed SAREX.

Canadians from coast to coast to coast have relied on Air Force SAR crews for decades to "seek and save" as the SAR motto says, be they lost fishermen, downed aircraft pilots, missing hikers or tourists aboard cruise ships requiring medical attention ashore.

The goal of National SAREX is to help SAR squadrons and units across the country work together to in a common environment, to allow them to test their standards and evaluate their proficiency. The event will also provide an excellent venue for showcasing the skills and abilities of the Canadian Forces SAR units to the public as both the public and the media are invited to attend the exercise.

Participating SAR squadrons include, 435 Transport and Rescue (T&R) Squadron, 17 Wing Winnipeg;, 442 (T&R) Squadron, 19 Wing Comox,; 413 (T&R) Squadron, 14 Wing Greenwood;, 103 Rescue Squadron, 9 Wing Gander; and 424 (T&R) Squadron, the organizing unit from 8 Wing Trenton.

Three Combat Support Squadron (CSS) will also participate, including, 417 CSS, 4 Wing Cold Lake;, 439 CSS, 3 Wing Bagotville; and 444 CSS, 5 Wing Goose Bay. Teams from the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) will also participate in this year's National SAREX.

SAREX events:

Parachuting Accuracy Event

Hornell Heights, Ontario A Search and Rescue Technician (SAR TECH) jumps from the rear of a Canadian Forces CC-115 Buffalo aircraft during the National Search and Rescue Exercise, SAREX 2006, held at the North Bay area airport and 22 Wing North Bay from 25 to 30 September 2006. The goal of National SAREX is to facilitate liaison between SAR units and to provide a venue for the standardization and evaluation of operational SAR techniques and procedures. Teams from Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) also participated in this year's National SAREX. Photo by: Private Colin Aitken, 22 Wing North Bay Imagery Section.

Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR Techs) are trained to jump in to all types of terrain for rescue missions, including forested areas. As such, they require great skill to guide their parachute to the best possible landing spot. The Precision Parachute competition provides competitors with up to five parachute jumps each from 2, 500 feet, in which they must guide themselves as accurately as possible to the centre of the "para drop zone" where a target is placed. The SAR techs are scored cumulatively on how close they come to the center of the drop zone by counting penalty metres for all their jumps; hence, the higher the score, the farther from the center and the worse the result. Each SAREX team will have a team score tabulated, in addition, for the team parachute award.

Medical Event

Each team, consisting of three SAR techs, shall be assessed on their ability to efficiently and effectively triage, evaluate, and treat three survivors at a mock-up aircraft crash site and then evacuate the casualty requiring the most immediate medical attention, within a 45-minute timeframe. They will be judged on all aspects of the medical procedures including the decision of which casualty should be evacuated first.

Search Event

The search event simulates conditions that are faced when SAR aircraft must search for something such as a missing aircraft. A series of about 10 search items (i.e., ground signal markers, parachute, Emergency Locator Transmitteor) are placed along a pre-determined route. The search route this year is located to the nNorthwest of North Bay and is approximately 165 kilometres long. The aircraft crews are given a tasking including the exact route to be flown and to search for as many items as they can find. Each crew's score is based on several key factors in the event including the pre-flight briefing, time to be airborne (must be less than 30 minutes), number of targets they spot and the accuracy with which they pinpoint the targets on a map.

Rescue Event

The rescue event simulates the actions of a SAR aircraft (fixed-wing) upon finding survivors at a simulated crash site. The event involves low-level (150 foot and 300 foot) para-drops of message bundles, medical equipment and a confined area parachute landing of SAR techs from 2,500 feet. The aircraft will then drop a supply bundle to the SAR techs on the ground. Each aircraft crew will be scored on how accurately they drop the equipment and live drops at a designated target in the center of the Rescue Event drop zone, and whether the sequence is completed in the allotted time.

Ground Search Event

This is a new event for this year's SAREX and was created to help facilitate sharing of knowledge and communication between different SAR organizations. CASARA, local police, the Ontario Provincial Police and a military members' team run through a gamut of ground-based SAR tasks. Each team will home in on an electronic SAR beacon, navigate by Global Positioning, search a forested area, apply emergency first aid to a victim and finally transport the victim to safety.

Helicopter Accuracy Event

This event allows a helicopter crew to show their precision as a team. The pilots must coordinate with their fFlight eEngineer (hoist operator) to accurately manoeuvre the hoist hook through a series of challenges. Finally the pilots must land precisely on a pre-determined spot.

Maintenance

Each aircraft will have a maintenance crew working with it during the week of SAREX. Each team will be responsible for towing, refuelling, and all the daily aircraft inspections and paperwork to keep the maintenance logs up to date. There will also be a maintenance scenario involving a simulated snag on the aircraft, in which the crew has to troubleshoot and come up with a solution based on their knowledge of the aircraft systems. Overall, the maintenance teams are scored on their maintenance procedures, safety, accuracy in record keeping, and any other items that they are required to deal with.

Bell Ringer (over 40 precision parachuting)

This is a precision parachute event for the more experienced SAR Techs, who must be over 40 years of age. The event consists of one jump to the precision parachute-landing zone, where a bell will be placed adjacent to the target. The SAR tech with the fastest time from landing to ringing the bell while carrying all parachute equipment (which can weight upwards of 90 pounds) will be the winner. Landing on the bell is not allowed.

Canadian Forces (CF) and SAR

Canada has a long and proud tradition of rendering assistance in the form of SAR for both civilians and the military. In fact, we have conducted SAR missions for more than 50 years. Throughout history, our Air Force SAR crews have won countless awards for heroism, including Canada's highest honour, the Cross of Valour.

With a combined responsibility of 15,540,000 square kilometres (Canada's landmass, territorial waters and mid-ocean sections of the Atlantic and Pacific) and the challenges of terrain and climate, SAR in Canada is a demanding and daunting task. In Canada, more than 750 Canadian Forces members are dedicated to SAR.

The aircrew flies the SAR techs to the scene of disaster, conducts search patterns while SAR techs act as spotters, and then the aircrew manoeuvres the aircraft for parachute or hoist operations. Ground crew technicians keep the SAR aircraft in top condition, often working in remote locations under extreme environmental conditions. It is the Air Controllers from one of the three Joint Rescue Coordination Centres located in Victoria, Trenton, and Halifax who coordinate the search, manage the available resources and dispatch rescuers to the scene.

Canada's SAR teams operate with the following aircraft:

The CC-130 Hercules with its long-range capability and high speed is capable of responding to SAR situations almost anywhere in any weather. Once on scene the Hercules crew is able to airdrop emergency equipment and SAR Techs to those in need.

The CC-115 Buffalo has good mountain-flying capabilities, making it ideal for West Coast SAR operations. It can fly in all weather conditions and in areas where short, unprepared strips provide the only take-off and landing surfaces. The Buffalo has been known to land in areas as short as a soccer field.

The CH-149 Cormorant helicopter, a powerful three-engine aircraft, has long-range capabilities and a large cargo area, which can carry up to 12 stretchers or a load of 5,000 kg. SAR techs are often hoisted from the helicopter to pick up patients in remote areas or off ships.

The CH-146 Griffon helicopter has a cruising speed of approximately 200 kph. Equipped with a hoist the crew can extract survivors from almost any terrain. It is also used to provide aero-medical support and casualty evacuation.

The Air Force also relies on other aircraft to assist in SAR operations. In rescues at sea, the CO-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft and CH-124 Sea King helicopters can be called in to provide support.

For updates on National SAREX and for information on the aircraft, squadrons and so much more, please visit www.airforce.gc.ca .

Recruitment information may also be found on this web site.

Note to Editors: Interested media may contact Captain Nicole Meszaros, National SAREX Public Affairs Officer at mobile 613.391.5233 or by e- mailing Meszaros.NL@forces.gc.ca . A media day for interested press will be held on Tuesday, September 26 and a media advisory