'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
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Body of Quebec man who died in Cuba found in Russia, family confirms
A Montreal-area family confirmed to CTV News that the body of their loved one who died while on vacation in Cuba is being repatriated to Canada after it was mistakenly sent to Russia.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Saskatchewan isn't remitting the carbon tax on home heating. Why isn't my province following suit?
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
RCMP officers had no legal authority to enter man's home, make arrest: B.C. court
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of assaulting two RCMP officers – with the court finding he was resisting an "unlawful entry and arrest" in his home before he was tasered, taken down and hauled away in handcuffs.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.