'We have to have a plan': New and old searchers on P.E.I. take part in major mock operation
Prince Edward Island’s Ground Search and Rescue (P.E.I. GSAR) tested out some new equipment and learned new search management roles in a major mock operation Saturday.
It started first thing in the morning at a marsh conservation park in Stratford.
“You got to keep our skills up,” said P.E.I. GSAR President George Williams. “It’s not just our ability to search for subjects and the clues they leave behind, such as footprints, but it’s also important for our planners.”
“We have a command post where our planners go in and they have to figure out the appropriate areas we want to search. We just don’t go off willy-nilly into the woods. We have to have a plan.”
The planning component is particularly important for this exercise. It’s a brand new team, just back from a five-day course on advanced management techniques they’ll be putting to use Saturday.
“How do you look for searching data, planning data?” said search manager Frances Gertsch. “How do you use statistical and theoretical searching information to really hone on where the subject probably is?”
It’s not just the team that’s new -- PEI GSAR is also putting their new Geographic Information System through its paces.
“So we’ve been able to get that set up over the last two years,” said Gertsch. “We’re testing out the ability to track, use field maps, collect clues from the field, and send them back through cell networks to our command post so they can use it for search planning.”
Field roles are getting a workout too. This is the first time out for some of the searchers, putting the skills they’ve been learning to the test.
“They have to learn basic skills on how to move and carry goods in the woods. They have to know how to dress and what to bring with them, have to know how to navigate with a map and compass, said Williams. “They have to have their first aid training as well, and we teach them basic searcher skills on what to look for and how you search for a subject.”
The subject is an actor hiding out in the park, safe with the support of some GSAR members.
The skills the new members learn here and the experienced members sharpen up are going to serve them well the next time they’re called to an actual emergency.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports betters, the league says.
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson airport: police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archaeological site in southwest France.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s sons have released a single together
A new Lennon and McCartney collaboration is the last thing anybody expected.
Some millennials say federal budget was 'a letdown' amid cost of living struggles
It’s a picture-perfect scene: Adam and Maria Reynolds are playing with their daughters inside their Port Coquitlam, B.C. home. Watching them together, you might not realize the Reynolds household is stretched to its limit.