Yearly Archive: 2014

Our team after a search

The Anatomy of a Search Activation

The text tone on my phone sounds at 1:45 am. Without looking, I know it’s a message from Rebecca. She’s the main keeper of the callout list for Saskatoon Search and Rescue and the only person in my contact list for whom I have an audible alert tone. “SPS Activation 0145hrs: 75 yr old male. Missing since 1900 hrs. Dementia, other med concerns. Meet pkg lot Greystone Hts School, 2700 Main St. Available?” Our Search Manager, Jeff, has received a phone call from the Saskatoon Police Service Watch Commander requesting our help. After getting all the details and confirming we...

group photo

ShelterBox Donates Decommissioned Tent to SSAR

“Every year, thousands of communities lose their homes, their possessions, and their livelihoods.  For families in affected areas, each day becomes a battle to survive.” ShelterBox Canada provides emergency shelter and vital supplies to support communities around the world overwhelmed by disaster and humanitarian crisis. Since they began in 2000, they have responded to earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, landslides, typhoons and conflict, delivering emergency humanitarian aid to communities in need. ShelterBox Ambassador Neil Wylie is one of 85 volunteers across Canada working to promote ShelterBox, raising awareness through speaking engagements, fundraising events and generating local interest. Through a personal...

Christine

A Tribute to SAR Moms

A couple weeks ago I got an email from Bobbi Buchanan asking what I thought of the idea of profiling SAR moms on social media in celebration of Mother’s Day. Awesome idea! (Bobbi is VP and looks after social media for SARSAV – Search and Rescue Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers.) The moms who responded to our emails gave really great answers. Some were too long for a simple post on Facebook or Twitter, but so good we wanted to share them in whole. Here’s what they had to say. Lori Johnstone Lori laughed out loud at the questions we asked....

Group photo

A Day of Bike SAR

The morning came early on Saturday, especially for those of us who were out until midnight the night before on the search activation looking for missing Austin Carter. But there was so much excitement at the training centre that nobody seemed tired. The morning started with the typically dreaded classroom portion of any training day. Luckily, our presenter and fellow SAR member, Kent Orosz, kept this part succinct and well organized. We covered the basic theory behind bike SAR: that it is similar to regular ground SAR activities except that you move three or four times faster – which is...

Lost Person Behavior book

Lost Person Behaviour: The Search for Austin Carter

On Friday, May 9, 2014, Saskatoon Search and Rescue was activated to search for a missing 15-year-old autistic boy, Austin Carter. Austin was found safely thanks to the joint search efforts of our organization, the Saskatoon Police Service, Corman Park Police, the Saskatoon Fire Department and MD Ambulance. Following activations, we always look back at what we did (or didn’t do) and examine what went right, what could have been done better. It’s easy to second-guess ourselves but we have to be careful to reflect on what we knew at the time, not all that we know now. Most people...