Saskatoon Search and Rescue Blog
For Saskatoon Search and Rescue, 2014 has been an incredible year of growth. Building strong relationships, increasing membership, community support, valuable training and activations. We are riding into 2015 on a wave of enthusiasm generated by our members and support from our agencies of jurisdiction and our community! Activations We had a record number of requests for service in 2014 from the Saskatoon Police Service and RCMP. We were assigned a wide variety of tasks that included both urban and rural searches for missing persons and evidence searches. Missing Person Activations: 11 Standby Requests (Missing Persons): 5 Evidence Search...
Rotary International is an association of Service Clubs with 1.2 million members worldwide. Their motto is “Service Above Self” and they support many local, national and international projects and programs that work towards lasting solutions that will improve the health and wellbeing of people and communities. The Rotary Club of Saskatoon Riverside supports many worthwhile projects both at home and abroad such as ShelterBox Canada, Cheshire Homes in Saskatoon, education projects in Saskatoon, Central America and Africa and the eradication of polio worldwide. In supporting Saskatoon Search and Rescue, Riverside Club Secretary Gerry Kraay says “Since missing persons is such...
The Dakota Dunes Community Development Corporation (DDCDC) is once again supporting Saskatoon Search and Rescue! In 2013 a grant from the Corporation assisted SSAR in funding the purchase of GPS units. These were invaluable during several search activations this past year, accurately marking areas searched by our members and allowing us to give accurate location information to our search managers and our agencies of jurisdiction. DDCDC has now generously provided funding assistance for our Emergency Communications Project, recognizing the importance of timely assistance and a reliable means of communication in crisis situations. Debbie Dreaver, Community Investment Coordinator, says “Supporting the...
Over the past four months, our group of new recruits, including myself, has been in basic searcher training, the first step in becoming an active member of Saskatoon Search & Rescue (SSAR). Between the classroom and the field exercises there was a ton of information to absorb. Here’s a recap of our journey: In September we camped out at Blackstrap and had a busy weekend of orienteering, constructing improvised shelters, fire making, signaling (at day and night), near-water search skills, and survival discussions. It was a great weekend of testing out new gear and getting some hands-on training in the...
The morning started with coffee. Not my personal thing, but most of the participants in the course appreciated the morning java fix provided by the Saskatoon Police Service – especially the searchers from Regina who’d left Regina at 6:00am to make it on time. The classroom part of the training was hosted at the spiffy new SPS Headquarters building. Spiffy in the sense that it’s new but also that it doesn’t feel like you’re in a police station. Then we were introduced to our first speaker, Dr. Ernie Walker. Had I not met him before on a real search I...
