Onion Lake hosts Search and Rescue training weekend

The training incorporates a scenario the team has to work with as if it were a real emergency.

This weekend, they were told the scenario would be a plane carrying multiple government officials issuing a Mayday call and was last heard from over Onion Lake.

“It’s set up to be as real life as possible,” said Brears. “This is a good opportunity for us to test our training, our communication devices, radios, GPS and all the different tools that agencies have and see if we can work together on an emergency.”

The Battlefords and Meadow Lake SAR teams hosted other organizations at a course that lasted several days at FireSong Resort near Onion Lake. (submitted photo/SARSAV)

Training now leads to better results in the field if someone does go missing – which they regularly do.

Brears was part of the search for five-year old-Frank Young, who went missing near Red Earth Cree Nation several years ago. Volunteers from the community found his body in the river months later.

Two summers ago, Lois Chartrand who was picking mushrooms in the woods near Choiceland went missing and was found deceased several days later.

“People go missing in all different ways and you know, we’ve had incredibly busy years in Saskatchewan where people go missing in the northern forest,” Brears said.

However they go missing, SARSAV is called to help organize the search to find them.

“When you have a training exercise like the one happening this weekend, you have an opportunity not only to work with the other agencies in a semi-controlled environment, but there’s also you know you’re standing beside your colleagues and people that you’re going to meet in the field. So if you start to understand these individuals and you’ve trained with them in a formal environment. It just helps down the road,” he said.

Some of the most important tasks can seem the most mundane. The participants this weekend were expected to first set up a command post and then create a command structure. This means assigning tasks to different roles and then making sure teams are properly deployed.

Finding fuel for planes or other equipment or finding a way to get a rescued person back to safety once they’re found are all part of the job.

SARSAV tries to run a simulation exercise every two years or so and different groups host. This year, it was the Battlefords and Meadow Lake teams that stepped up.

Planning the event takes about a year. Host teams need to not only manage the training days, they need to organize food and accommodation for people attending.

SARSAV isn’t only reactionary, however.

Brears said they are expanding their prevention education, with a focus on the Hug a Tree and Survive concept.

Members go into schools and talk to elementary aged students about the importance of staying in one spot if they are lost outdoors.

“It teaches them to build a little pad out of sticks to sit on and get themselves off the ground,” he said.

If the child keeps moving, often searchers find themselves just chasing the child further into the wilderness.

“Whereas if they hug a tree and stay put, they have a much higher chance of being found as the searchers do their methodical search through the bush,” he said.

Older kids learn more advanced skills along with water safety tips. All are free of charge. Resources and information can be found at adventuresmart.ca.

Brears points out adults can also benefit from the training or even volunteering with their local SAR group.

It might be them out in the wilderness one day, lost and looking for a way to be found.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Onion Lake hosts Search and Rescue training weekend

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