Tagged: training

SARscene 2016 – Edmonton, Alberta

Written by Mark Wells Several members of Saskatoon Search and Rescue attended SARscene 2016 from October 15 – 17 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Myself, Kent Orosz, Dale Liebrecht, Henry Eng, Tracy VanBrabant, Sean Taylor and Scott Wright). Kent and I started by leaving Saskatoon on Friday night. The drive there was okay; the roads were pretty good. Well, except for the stretch of “travel not recommended” where we were driving 50 km/hr on the highway. But I wasn’t driving so I thought it was grand. We arrived at our hotel a little while after midnight and you just could tell there...

Search Dog Basics

Written by Dale Johnstone Last July, I had the pleasure of attending the three-day Search Dog Basics Seminar in Regina put on by Mary-Ann Warren of Precision Search Dog. Sgt. Pete Garvey of the RCMP and Lloyd Goodwill of Search and Rescue Regina (SARR) brought Mary-Ann in for the weekend to give us an introduction into the world of search dogs. As I’m sure many people know, we do not use civilian search dog teams in Saskatchewan. But there is a strong and growing desire to change that and this course was a big first step in that journey. Mary-Ann...

Reflections on SARVAC Workshop – Saskatoon

by Dale Liebrecht This past weekend I attended the National SARVAC Workshop in Saskatoon. As a new Saskatoon Search and Rescue (SSAR) recruit, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The weekend was filled with many engaging opportunities to meet with other volunteer SAR professionals across Canada. I experienced many moments of profound admiration for the organization as the conference evolved. One of the images etched into my mind was the quiet confident glow of our longtime outgoing National SARVAC president Harry Blackmore. I regret not sitting down and having a conversation with him. His demeanor was reminiscent of a man...