From choare at shaw.ca Sun Jan 18 19:10:26 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:10:26 -0700 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings; January 2009 Message-ID: <03202E8332BA43028F664601D677AE4E@user978bb393cd> Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2009 PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE April 24 to 26 Hosted by Parkland SAR The Information Brochure and Event Schedule can be accessed on the SAR Alberta website. See www.parklandsar.org or www.saralberta.org for info - register at www.ticketweb.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARDAA IS 20 THIS YEAR Michelle invites everyone to visit the updated website and help celebrate the anniversary of the Search and Rescue Dog Association of Alberta The link is http://www.sardaa.ca/ Keep watching as the Association's history is on the way. Secretary, Michelle Limoges, udcdoberman at shaw.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS NEEDS MORE E-MAIL ADDRESSES Combing through the SAR Alberta website for news items this month (yes, the issue is rather thin) I noticed that I didn't have contacts for almost all of the regional directors and deputy directors. Since I rely on the executive, group leaders, and people like regional directors for current material for the newsletter I would sure like to have them send me a note - even a hello. Since this issue is late, you might start sending news for the February issue soon. Chris Hoare choare at shaw.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20090118/5a2bd126/attachment.html From choare at shaw.ca Sun Feb 15 18:45:22 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:45:22 -0700 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings February 2009 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2009 PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE April 24 to 26 Hosted by Parkland SAR The Information Brochure and Event Schedule can be accessed on the SAR Alberta website. See www.parklandsar.org or www.saralberta.org for info - register at www.ticketweb.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE UPDATE Note that conference registration can be accessed directly from the Conference info panel on the SAR Alberta website. http://www.saralberta.org/ The conference schedule and information brochure can also be downloaded from the site. At risk of duplicating information the entire registration form is pasted next. The editor takes no responsibility for the loss of formatting due to the e-mail transmission - the form is for information only, not for use as an actual registration form. Note that the location information will be provided along with registration confirmation. Search and Rescue Alberta 2009 Provincial Conference Registration Form You may also register on-line at www.ticketweb.ca REGISTRATION DEADLINE: APRIL 10. After April 1, there is a $50 Late Registration Fee. NO REGISTRATIONS AT THE DOOR Last Name: _________________________________ First Name:_________________________ Mailing Address: ________________________________________________________________ City: ________________________________________ Postal Code: ______________________ SAR Group: _____________________________ Email: _________________________________ Please indicate which sessions you will be attending: Note that the Rope and Climbing Wall option requires a half-day. Saturday: 1130 - 1230 (Choose 1 only) _____ Safe and Effective Fire Extinguisher Use _____ Night Tracking _____ The Leadership Toolbox _____ SARVAC - A Strong National Voice for SAR _____ Keys to a Successful Board Saturday: 1500 - 1600 (Choose 1 only) _____ Search and Rescue Dog Association Part 1 (you must also choose part 2 below) _____ Survival _____ Portable Defibrillator Use _____ H2S Aware _____ Building a Better Board Part 1 (you must also choose part 2 below) Saturday: 1630 - 1730 (Choose 1 only) _____ Search and Rescue Dog Association Part 2 (you must also choose part 1 above) _____ Survival (Repeat session) _____ Tapping into Volunteer Motivation _____ Weather Radio Alert System and SAR _____ Maintaining a Good Relationship with the RCMP _____ Building a Better Board Part 2 (you must also choose part 1 above) Full Conference Fee $200 Includes Friday dormitory-style accommodation; Friday evening social; all meals on Saturday; all conference Events, except Rope and Climbing Wall; all nutrition snacks; Saturday BBQ, evening social and recreation; Saturday dormitory-style accommodation; Sunday breakfast; and, AGM Double Occupancy Upgrade ($60 per room) Per person $30 Dormitory-style accommodation is included in above price; limited spaces available for this option Please indicate who you will be sharing a room with ____________________________________ OR Single Occupancy Upgrade $80 Dormitory-style accommodation is included in above price; limited spaces available for this option Optional Rope Course and Climbing Wall (limited to the first 50 applicants) $25 Discount if you can't arrive until Saturday morning -$20 Please try to arrive by 0830 on Saturday Late registration fee (After April 1 and until April 10) $50 TOTAL $__________ Enclose your payment with this registration form. Make cheques payable to Parkland Search and Rescue Society. Mail to: Norman Mathew, Box 158, Seba Beach, AB T0E 2B0. NOTES: 1.You will receive an email confirmation of your registration as well as location information and other details about the conference 2.Registration deadline is April 10; after April 1, a late registration fee of $50 applies 3.FOR LOGISTICAL REASONS, THERE ARE NO REGISTRATIONS AT THE DOOR 4.There are no refunds after April 1; requests for refunds must be made in writing. Signature: __________________________________________ Date: ____________________________ Information collected on this form will be used for the administration of the Search and Rescue Alberta 2009 Provincial Conference only. This information will not be distributed to, or shared with, any other organization. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010 SARSCENE CONFERENCE AND EXPO Regina, SK Fall 2010 The NSS announces that the 2009 edition of SARSCENE Conference and Expo is postponed. It will resume in the fall of 2010. The Search and Rescue Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers (SARSAV) and the Ministry of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing, Government of Saskatchewan, will co-host the 2010 conference in Regina, SK. Please re-visit the http://www.sarscene.ca website for continuing updates. Why? After 17 years, it's time to pause and review the format and content of the SARSCENE Conference and Expo. Feedback from the SAR community indicates that the timing is right to revamp the conference, improve the content, offer more targeted and useful sharing of information, best practices and learning for volunteers and other SAR professionals. What's being refreshed? To make SARSCENE a new, improved and more targeted event, we're : * refurbishing content selection: we want to create educational and informative streams for volunteers, SAR managers, team leaders, emergency measures officials, law enforcement, associations, etc.; * improving the Awards Program by bringing it up to date, so it more accurately reflects and recognizes changes in today's SAR reality; * seeking more involvement from our air, marine and ground partners, and the SAR industry; and * focusing on multi-year strategic & operational planning. Goal Our goal is to create a more balanced event, and ensure that conference participants receive increased value for the time and money they invest in attending the conference. If you'd like to offer comments and suggestions, please contact: Email : sarscene at nss.gc.ca Fax : 613-996-3746 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALZHEIMER SOCIETY The following was also submitted to the newsletter and comes from Joan Price jprice at alzheimer.ab.ca Subject: NEW! On-line Safely Home Registration and SAR Training Available One thing I did want to share with you is that the on-line registration for Safely Home is now available at www.safelyhome.ca . In addition, the on-line training for SAR, RCMP, Police is now available as well. You may want to take a look at the website, check out the self-directed training and see if it will be a fit for on-going staff development for SAR groups throughout Alberta/NWT. NEW! on-line training is now available on our Safely Home webpage: http://www.safelyhome.ca/en/onlinetraining/onlinetraining.asp. Please see the How to Register portion on that page. Registrants will have to fill out the form in order to require enrollment to the course. Please feel free to share this information with anyone interested in taking the training on-line (note the change of the name of the course). Course B: "Search is an Emergency": Bringing people with Alzheimer's and related diseases Safely Home. Targeted audience: Police and emergency services. Alzheimer's disease provides unique challenges to emergency search and rescue efforts. This course will assist police and emergency services to learn about the distinguishing characteristics of persons with Alzheimer's disease who may become lost; effective communication strategies to use when interacting with the public; the Safely HomeT program; and vital information to help reunite lost persons with their family members. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARVAC NEWSLETTER Rodney also sent me the pdf file of the SARVAC newsletter for Winter 2009, but I cannot undertake to post it in this newsletter edition. My apologies, but this newsletter threatens to exceed the length and file size restrictions that prevent it from becoming burdensome to those with only dial-up service. The SARVAC newsletter will be posted soon on the SAR Alberta website. If you'd like to see it before it appears on the site you might contact Rodney Dietrich at accountinggod at shaw.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20090215/14e57e62/attachment.html From choare at shaw.ca Mon Mar 16 14:09:17 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:09:17 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings March 2009 Message-ID: <6A819F4742274D3293C78F45DF3D09D9@user978bb393cd> Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2009 PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE April 24 to 26 Hosted by Parkland SAR Conference registration can be accessed directly from the Conference info panel on the SAR Alberta website. http://www.saralberta.org/ The Information Brochure and Event Schedule can also be accessed on the site. See www.parklandsar.org or www.saralberta.org for info - register at www.ticketweb.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW SEASAR EXECUTIVE At the Annual General Meeting of SEASAR on 22 January 2009, members elected the following Executive: PRESIDENT: RON GROVER VICE-PRESIDENT: GARY MARTIN SECRETARY: DEANNA CULLIHALL TREASURER: SUE BERNER DIRECTORS: GEOFF SMITH, RAYMOND PENNER, STEVE BERNER, EARL MORRIS, LYNN MEIER, KEITH BYERS, BILL DEMISH and DWAYNE JOHNSTON The following courses are being offered by SEASAR: Basic SAR Skills Course: March 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31; April 6, 7, 20, 21, 27, 28 Civil Emergency Response (CER): April 18, 19 Benchmarks Day and Mock Search (evening): May 2, 2009-03-10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIDEO PRODUCTION SERVICES Rene Collins here from DSAR. Some groups have hired productions services to create a video for recruitment or promotion purposes. Most people that don't work in my industry are not aware of what they should be paying for certain services or what to expect for the money they've spent. For people that are thinking of producing material for their SAR group or region, I would like to: a) If they've already hired a production company to produce a video for them, make my services available to the SAR group as an independent consultant if they have questions about video production to help guide them, at no charge. OR b) If they are thinking of funding a video and are looking for a production company, I would be pleased to provide that service. I'm an award winning freelance cameraman with 30+ year in film and television production, worked with most of the major Hollywood studios, American and Canadian television networks and also offer video production services. I can be reached at rene at hdtvcamera.com, or my cell at 403 815-9844 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WILDERNESS FIRST AID CERTIFICATION Inroads Mountain Sports Wilderness First Aid (St. John Ambulance Certification . Valid Standard First Aid is a pre-requisite) April 3 - 5, 2009 (starting at 6:00 PM Friday evening on April 3) Hosted at Blue Lake Centre (20 minutes north of Hinton on Hwy 40 North .. in the middle of William Switzer Park) $298 plus GST covers meals, accommodation, books, instruction and certification. (email, or phone 780.817.1512, to request a registration package) Jerry Fochler Director of Operations Inroads Mountain Sports Box 6700 Hinton, AB, Canada T7V 2G2 780.817.1512 www.inroads.ca Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEARCH IS AN EMERGENCY Ric Henderson forwarded a poster from the Alzheimer Society, which cannot be included here because of the text only format of this newsletter. The link to the Safely Home program is www.safelyhome.ca or www.alzheimer.ca More information may be obtained from Joan Price Safely Home Coordinator Alzheimer Society Alberta and Northwest Territories jprice at alzheimer.ab.ca (403) 870-3555 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20090316/5cf3977a/attachment.htm From choare at shaw.ca Sat Apr 18 16:30:58 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:30:58 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings April 2009 Message-ID: <0C9F2CD29B9840F5826595B53F3FDD02@user978bb393cd> Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. 2009 PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE April 24 to 26 Hosted by Parkland SAR Conference registration can be accessed directly from the Conference info panel on the SAR Alberta website. http://www.saralberta.org/ The Information Brochure and Event Schedule can also be accessed on the site. See www.parklandsar.org or www.saralberta.org for info - register at www.ticketweb.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HUGE NEWSLETTER THIS MONTH Some months your newsletter editor has to scratch for material and some months everyone wants to say something. The newsletter used to be tailored to short items because many members were on dial-up. Not knowing if that has all changed I'm sending this missive out, but if it gives problems at your end, please let me know for future months. Editor choare at shaw.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CAVE RESCUE WORKSHOPS Hi everyone, (feel free to pass this on to those who may be interested in caving or cave rescue) British Columbia Cave Rescue with assistance from the Alberta Cave Rescue Organization is putting on a couple of hands-on workshops in the Crowsnest Pass area May 8 - 12, 2009. The 20-hour Companion Cave Rescue Workshop is intended to be useful to anyone interested in safe caving skills, including novices, experienced cavers and SAR personnel who wish to broaden their knowledge. It provides experienced instruction in rigging, single rope techniques, accident avoidance, mechanical advantage systems and companion rescue methods for caving. The consecutive 20 hr Rope Rescue Response Workshop builds on the rigging and rescue skills practiced in the Companion Rescue Workshop by introducing participants to high angle stretcher handling, rigging and the organizational structure of a technical rope rescue response, with particular reference to cave rescue. If you are interested in attending either of these workshops, please check out the details at 1. http://www.missioncontrol.co.nz/itm/Event_Master_Item_Public.aspx?ID=2029 or http://www.cancaver.ca/bccr/BCCRtrain.htm Registration is limited to 20 participants for each workshop. Student / Instructor ratio is 5:1 or less. Cindy Heselton Director, South Central Region Chair, Standards Committee Search and Rescue Alberta (SAR AB) Day (403) 268-5561 | Eve (403) 295-6474 www.saralberta.org Calendar of events: http://www.missioncontrol.co.nz/ITM/Calendar.aspx?id=3 SAR Albert Standards Committee http://saralberta.dnsalias.org:8080/SARAlbertaStandardsCommittee NOT GETTING INFORMATION? Check out http://saralberta.dnsalias.org:8080/SARATrainCoordsEMailingList to see if you're listed as a training coordinator on the group contact lists...also, anyone interested in training can sign up for the sara-traincoords at castrov.cuub.ab.ca list ... Note: I do not have access to Yahoo during business hours. If your issue is urgent, please email me at cindy.heselton at calgary.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAR BASICS COURSE Sundre VSAR is running a SAR Basics course in June 2009 June 13/14 and 27/28 2009 Sundre Arena meeting room 08:00 to 16:30 approx. instuctor ; Les Brace Cost $150.00 p/p Contact; Renny Norsworthy arms_rn56 at hotmail.com SVSAR Training Director 1-403-638-9133 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE PRESIDENT SAR ALBERTA UPDATE APRIL 2009 The past few months have been very busy for SAR Alberta with some interesting challenges and opportunities. In March I met with AEMA Managing Director David Hodgins to discuss the progress to date between our two organizations and how we might better be able to move forward. Over the last year I have met over 30 times with various people within AEMA and while there has been progress in some key areas, the lack of an overall plan for search and rescue in the province has been a problem. Mr. Hodgins did recognize the need for improvement in the process and understands the need for the two organizations to work together toward a common goal. He has raised the issue with his executive team and I have heard from Colin Lloyd, the Executive Director of Operations who is taking the initiative to see that AEMA clearly defines its role in search and rescue and how it will continue to work with SAR Alberta to ensure an effective search and rescue system in the province. Colin Lloyd and I will be speaking again next week and we will provide an update at the AGM. I appreciate Colin's perspective on things and I think he has a good grasp of what needs to be done and how we can better work together to support SAR in Alberta. MOU As part of the ongoing negotiations with AEMA SAR Alberta has officially requested an MOU with the agency. It is hoped that the MOU will be in place within the next six months. SAR Alberta has also, once again, requested an MOU with the RCMP. Mike Self, with K-Division has requested clarification from AEMA on its search and rescue role and wants that clarification in place before he proceeds with an MOU with SAR Alberta. SAR ALBERTA GRANT In February SAR Alberta put forward a grant application for $25,000 to hire an individual to help build capacity within the organization. The grant was approved and will be issued to SAR Alberta within the next few weeks. Having this resource in place will be key in moving the organization forward in the next year. TRAINING GRANTS The training grants for the 2009/2010 season have now all been issued. All those teams that put in applications this year received their grant money. As most of you noticed there was an issue with the application deadline - which AEMA did extend. There was also some question around the municipality over 20,000 rule. Though the situation was not ideal and did cause some problems for teams, once the problems were identified AEMA did step up to the table and was very helpful in trying to rectify things. Pat Henneberry, Director, Research, Training and Accreditation did get involved and was very helpful in getting the grants through. The limit on the types of courses available this year was set by Ric Henderson, in conjunction with AEMA, when Ric was acting as the training coordinator. SAR Alberta will be working with AEMA next year to streamline the grant process. It has been suggested that a more coordinated approach across the province - to maximize the dollars spent - is needed. PROVINCIAL TRAINING EXERCISE As part of their grant proposal Rocky Mountain House Volunteer Search and Rescue asked for just over $20,000 to help coordinate a provincial wide search and rescue exercise. The Minister approved this grant so the exercise will be planned for the coming year. This will be the first provincial wide exercise in many years and it will be an excellent learning opportunity for all the teams and agencies involved. STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION SAR Alberta will be reviewing and redeveloping its strategic plan over the next few months. While it is important that AEMA clarify its role within search and rescue it is also equally important for SAR Alberta to do so also. A lack of clear direction and purpose has made it difficult for SAR Alberta to accomplish things - with too few people and resources being pulled in too many directions. It is not fair, nor was it ever, to ask people to step up to the board and ask them to make head way when no one knows where the ship is supposed to be going. The plan will include more than just a list of things SAR Alberta should do - it will also re-examine why SAR Alberta exists, what its core functions should be and what resources will be needed to make the organization work. SAR Alberta will be looking for input at the AGM on the strategic plan, so it is important for teams to be represented. It will also be important for you to have strong regional representation on the board so that your area and organizations are kept in the loop during this very important year. REGIONAL REPS Some region will no longer have representation after the AGM as their directors and deputy directors are stepping down. As this is going to be a key year for search and rescue in Alberta it is important now more than ever that teams send qualified and interested representation to the SAR Alberta board. A lot will be happening with the clarification of roles, further development of standards and the changes to training grants. Make sure your region has representation.. TRAINING COORDINATOR SAR Alberta is in need of a training coordinator - there is an opportunity this year for someone to make a big difference in how the training grants are used, someone with a vision on how to maximize the training efforts in the province is really needed. If you are interested please let the SAR Alberta board know. CONFERENCE If you haven't signed up for the conference this year please do so. It is going to be a very good event and some significant changes are going to be kicked off with this conference. The price does include all your accommodation and meals so it is a very good deal. Parkland Search and Rescue would appreciate the support and SAR Alberta needs to see all the teams at the AGM. The lineup for the conference is really great so don't miss out. Monica Ahlstrom mavada at cruzinternet.com President SAR Alberta -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARVAC SARVAC Update - April 2009 (Also from Monica). On April 4, the Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SARVAC) held a strategic planning session in Toronto. Over the last years SARVAC has been working on restructuring its governance model. Part of this has come about as the result of a NIF (New Initiative fund) SARVAC received from the National Search and Rescue Secretariat, that was to be used in part to help build capacity within SARVAC. This capacity building was part of a larger NIF that is being used to implement a national prevention program that was originally developed in BC. In the past SARVAC's governance model was based on the "working board" model, a model which most SAR groups use and are familiar with. On a working board the members are expected to do most of the work for the organization through committees, etc, and it is up to them to implement the policies they set. SARVAC is switching to a Policy board - which will shift the focus from the day-to-day task of running the organization to that of developing strategic policy and direction. The implementation of these policy directions will be left to the hired staff SARVAC now has. SARVAC has been able to move to this type of board as it now has two hired staff members. Last year SARVAC received a NIF grant that included hired staff as part of the proposal. RCMP CHAMPION The RCMP are now the champions at a national level for ground SAR. Though the RCMP has always played a role in Ottawa on ground SAR issues there was no one agency in Ottawa that clearly represented ground search and rescue to the federal government. The RCMP will now officially have that role. ADVENTURE SMART PROGRAM SARVAC is going to instruct 10 more people from each province to become presenters of the Adventure Smart program. This training is tentatively scheduled for October. SARVAC will cover all expenses for the training including travel, and accommodation. SAR Alberta will be setting out criteria for those who will be selected and will be providing more information on this initiative in the coming months. SARVAC will also be training a Master trainer from each province who will be able to instruct others in delivery of the program. This training session is for one person only and will be held in June in Vancouver. SARVAC has asked that when possible, one of the original three individuals sent to the first training program last October be selected. SAR Alberta will work with our three candidates to select this person. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RED DEER EXPRESS ARTICLE 04/01/09 BY JOHNNIE BACHUSKY Red Deer Express Seven Red Deer and area citizens are home from disaster. That's Disaster City in Texas. The seven men and women are volunteers with the Red Deer Search and Rescue Technical Rescue Team. From bogus@does.not.exist.com Mon Apr 6 09:12:10 2009 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:12:10 -0000 Subject: No subject Message-ID: dubbed Disaster City, in College Station, Texas. It is the second = consecutive year the local rescue team attended to learn new life saving = skills and techniques. This year the seven locals participated in a full = scale disaster exercise in conjunction with Texas Task Force 1 (TTF). "They (TTF) have a team of 300 people, and every year they take a third = of that team and have a major exercise for the weekend," said Ric = Henderson, planning section chief for the Red Deer search and rescue = team. "We fitted in with the team, doing the search part and where = people are, and the rescue. "One of our team members is a nurse and has done some medical training = with them as well," said Henderson, who is also assistant county manager = for Red Deer County. "She was part of the medical team. Other people, = such as myself, were shadowing some of their team leaders as part of the = team management." Disaster City is adjacent to the world-renowned Brayton Fire Training = Field, and offers a full array of skills and techniques sought by = emergency response professionals from all corners of the world. "They actually built a town and pretty much wrecked it, with overturned = buses with fake people in them and collapsed buildings," said Bev = Sliger, president of the 70-member, all volunteer local search and = rescue team. "It is a very, very unique and interesting place." Created by the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), the mock = community features full-scale, collapsible structures designed to = simulate various levels of disaster and wreckage which can be customized = for the specific training needs of any group. TTF is considered one of the most active search and rescue teams in the = U.S., having responded to at least one major disaster each year since = its inception in 1998. From bogus@does.not.exist.com Mon Apr 6 09:12:10 2009 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:12:10 -0000 Subject: No subject Message-ID: devastation, TTF's urban search and rescue and water rescue teams are = renowned for their expertise in responding to both man-made and natural = disasters. Local team members attended last weekend's Texan exercise at their own = expense and time. Its goal was to bring home new rescue skills as well = as a shopping list of new life saving technical items that will assist = the team in future challenges. "When people want to move ahead and gain skills for our team we are 100 = per cent behind that. They take time from their jobs to do this. They go = down at their own expense," said Sliger, adding team members worked 10 = to 14 hours a day during their Texas training. "Everything we do is = pretty much at our own expense, or what we fundraise for. It is hugely = costly. The flight alone is costly. "And they always come back and want more toys so we do more fund = raising," added Sliger. Contributed by Rodney Dietrich accountinggod at shaw.ca=20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- A different report, but about the same training session was sent by Ric = Henderson. The information may be the same as above, but editor didn't = want to leave anyone out. Local Rescuers Train in Texas On Friday March 27, seven volunteer members of the Red Deer Search and = Rescue Technical Rescue Team will travel to College Station Texas to = participate in a full scale disaster exercise, over the upcoming = weekend, in conjunction with Texas Task Force 1. The two teams entered = into a memorandum of agreement earlier this year after Red Deer team = members trained at 'Disaster City' in Texas over the Labour Day weekend. Texas Task Force 1 is one of the most active search and rescue teams in = the U.S., having responded to at least one major disaster each year = since its inception in 1998. From the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks to = Hurricane Katrina's devastation, Texas Task Force 1's urban search and = rescue and water rescue teams have expertise in responding to both = man-made and natural disasters. Rescue Team Leader Marcel Schur says the team is excited about the = opportunity to train with Texas Task Force 1 as their years of = experience will be valuable in developing the Red Deer Team members = knowledge and skills. Red Deer Search and Rescue is a non-profit organization founded in June = of 1996 by a group of outdoor enthusiasts with a desire to contribute = their skills for the benefit of those who have become lost or missing. = Working in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, = Municipalities and other volunteer search and rescue organizations in = Alberta, the Team is ready to provide their volunteer services anywhere = and at anytime. Technical Rescue Team members are trained in high angle, = confined space, structural collapse, and swift water rescue. Red Deer Search and Rescue Texas Task Force 1 www.reddeersar.com = ....................................................http://usar.tamu.edu/= =20 For further info, contact: Bev Sliger, President Red Deer SAR............................Ric = Henderson, Red Deer SAR 403-396-3330.............................................................= ..403-505-3069 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- GET READY IN THE PARK Edmonton's Emergency Response event in Hawrelak Park on Saturday May = 9th,10am to 4pm, has a poster on the Edmonton website where more info = can be found. www.edmonton.ca/oep=20 Mike Cook mike.cook at edmonton.ca Sent a poster that could not be = reproduced here and a link to it on the Edmonton website.=20 Actually, Mike, I looked and couldn't find the poster or the info at = that link. Maybe check with their webmaster. (Editor) -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS=20 Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the = middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the = 14th of each month.=20 Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? = If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish = advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to = respond.=20 Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca = PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further = information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit = http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter = your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers = will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and = unsubscribe on the same page.=20 ------=_NextPart_000_0142_01C9C043.0DD58A50 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Hi All:

SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search = and=20 Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that = are listed=20 as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were = requested to=20 be added to the mailing list.

Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the = newsletter.=20

 

2009 PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE

April 24 to 26

Hosted by Parkland SAR

Conference registration can be accessed directly from the Conference = info=20 panel on the SAR Alberta website. http://www.saralberta.org/ The Information Brochure and Event Schedule can also be = accessed on=20 the site.

See www.parklandsar.org or www.saralberta.org=20 for info - register at www.ticketweb.ca

HUGE NEWSLETTER THIS MONTH

Some months your newsletter editor has to scratch for material and = some=20 months everyone wants to say something. The newsletter used to be = tailored to=20 short items because many members were on dial-up. Not knowing if that = has all=20 changed I=92m sending this missive out, but if it gives problems at your = end,=20 please let me know for future months.

Editor choare at shaw.ca =

CAVE RESCUE WORKSHOPS

Hi everyone, (feel free to pass this on to those who may be = interested in=20 caving or cave rescue)

British Columbia Cave Rescue with assistance from the Alberta Cave = Rescue=20 Organization is putting on a couple of hands-on workshops in the = Crowsnest Pass=20 area May 8 - 12, 2009.

The 20-hour Companion Cave Rescue Workshop is intended to be useful = to anyone=20 interested in safe caving skills, including novices, experienced cavers = and SAR=20 personnel who wish to broaden their knowledge. It provides experienced=20 instruction in rigging, single rope techniques, accident avoidance, = mechanical=20 advantage systems and companion rescue methods for caving.

The consecutive 20 hr Rope Rescue Response Workshop builds on the = rigging and=20 rescue skills practiced in the Companion Rescue Workshop by introducing=20 participants to high angle stretcher handling, rigging and the = organizational=20 structure of a technical rope rescue response, with particular reference = to cave=20 rescue.

If you are interested in attending either of these workshops, please = check=20 out the details at

1. http://www.missioncontrol.co.nz/itm/Event_Master_Item_Public.= aspx?ID=3D2029=20

or http://www.cancaver.ca= /bccr/BCCRtrain.htm=20

Registration is limited to 20 participants for each workshop. Student = /=20 Instructor ratio is 5:1 or less.

Cindy Heselton

Director, South Central Region

Chair, Standards Committee

Search and Rescue Alberta (SAR AB)

Day (403) 268-5561 | Eve (403) 295-6474

www.saralberta.org

Calendar of events: http://= www.missioncontrol.co.nz/ITM/Calendar.aspx?id=3D3=20

SAR Albert Standards Committee http://saralberta.dnsalias.org:8080/SARAlbertaStandardsCommittee=20

NOT GETTING INFORMATION? Check out = http://saralberta.dnsalias.org:8080/SARATrainCoordsEMailingList=20  to see if you're listed as a training coordinator on the group = contact=20 lists...also, anyone interested in training can sign up for the=20 sara-traincoords at castrov.cuub.ab.ca list ...

Note: I do not have access to Yahoo during business hours. If your = issue is=20 urgent, please email me at cindy.heselton at calgary.ca

SAR BASICS COURSE

Sundre VSAR is running a SAR Basics course in June 2009

June = 13/14 and=20 27/28 2009
Sundre Arena meeting room
08:00 to 16:30 = approx.
instuctor ;=20 Les Brace
Cost $150.00 p/p
Contact;
Renny Norsworthy arms_rn56 at hotmail.com =  
SVSAR=20 Training Director 1-403-638-9133

FROM THE PRESIDENT

SAR ALBERTA UPDATE APRIL 2009

The past few months have been very busy for SAR Alberta with some = interesting=20 challenges and opportunities. In March I met with AEMA Managing Director = David=20 Hodgins to discuss the progress to date between our two organizations = and how we=20 might better be able to move forward. Over the last year I have met over = 30=20 times with various people within AEMA and while there has been progress = in some=20 key areas, the lack of an overall plan for search and rescue in the = province has=20 been a problem. Mr. Hodgins did recognize the need for improvement in = the=20 process and understands the need for the two organizations to work = together=20 toward a common goal. He has raised the issue with his executive team = and I have=20 heard from Colin Lloyd, the Executive Director of Operations who is = taking the=20 initiative to see that AEMA clearly defines its role in search and = rescue and=20 how it will continue to work with SAR Alberta to ensure an effective = search and=20 rescue system in the province.

Colin Lloyd and I will be speaking again next week and we will = provide an=20 update at the AGM. I appreciate Colin=92s perspective on things and I = think he has=20 a good grasp of what needs to be done and how we can better work = together to=20 support SAR in Alberta.

MOU

As part of the ongoing negotiations with AEMA SAR Alberta has = officially=20 requested an MOU with the agency. It is hoped that the MOU will be in = place=20 within the next six months. SAR Alberta has also, once again, requested = an MOU=20 with the RCMP. Mike Self, with K-Division has requested clarification = from AEMA=20 on its search and rescue role and wants that clarification in place = before he=20 proceeds with an MOU with SAR Alberta.

SAR ALBERTA GRANT

In February SAR Alberta put forward a grant application for $25,000 = to hire=20 an individual to help build capacity within the organization. The grant = was=20 approved and will be issued to SAR Alberta within the next few weeks. = Having=20 this resource in place will be key in moving the organization forward in = the=20 next year.

TRAINING GRANTS

The training grants for the 2009/2010 season have now all been = issued. All=20 those teams that put in applications this year received their grant = money. As=20 most of you noticed there was an issue with the application deadline =96 = which=20 AEMA did extend. There was also some question around the municipality = over=20 20,000 rule. Though the situation was not ideal and did cause some = problems for=20 teams, once the problems were identified AEMA did step up to the table = and was=20 very helpful in trying to rectify things. Pat Henneberry, Director, = Research,=20 Training and Accreditation did get involved and was very helpful in = getting the=20 grants through.

The limit on the types of courses available this year was set by Ric=20 Henderson, in conjunction with AEMA, when Ric was acting as the training = coordinator. SAR Alberta will be working with AEMA next year to = streamline the=20 grant process. It has been suggested that a more coordinated approach = across the=20 province =96 to maximize the dollars spent =96 is needed.

PROVINCIAL TRAINING EXERCISE

As part of their grant proposal Rocky Mountain House Volunteer Search = and=20 Rescue asked for just over $20,000 to help coordinate a provincial wide = search=20 and rescue exercise. The Minister approved this grant so the exercise = will be=20 planned for the coming year. This will be the first provincial wide = exercise in=20 many years and it will be an excellent learning opportunity for all the = teams=20 and agencies involved.

STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION

SAR Alberta will be reviewing and redeveloping its strategic plan = over the=20 next few months. While it is important that AEMA clarify its role within = search=20 and rescue it is also equally important for SAR Alberta to do so also. A = lack of=20 clear direction and purpose has made it difficult for SAR Alberta to = accomplish=20 things =96 with too few people and resources being pulled in too many = directions.=20 It is not fair, nor was it ever, to ask people to step up to the board = and ask=20 them to make head way when no one knows where the ship is supposed to be = going.=20 The plan will include more than just a list of things SAR Alberta should = do =96 it=20 will also re-examine why SAR Alberta exists, what its core functions = should be=20 and what resources will be needed to make the organization work. SAR = Alberta=20 will be looking for input at the AGM on the strategic plan, so it is = important=20 for teams to be represented. It will also be important for you to have = strong=20 regional representation on the board so that your area and organizations = are=20 kept in the loop during this very important year.

REGIONAL REPS

Some region will no longer have representation after the AGM as their = directors and deputy directors are stepping down. As this is going to be = a key=20 year for search and rescue in Alberta it is important now more than ever = that=20 teams send qualified and interested representation to the SAR Alberta = board. A=20 lot will be happening with the clarification of roles, further = development of=20 standards and the changes to training grants. Make sure your region has=20 representation..

TRAINING COORDINATOR

SAR Alberta is in need of a training coordinator =96 there is an = opportunity=20 this year for someone to make a big difference in how the training = grants are=20 used, someone with a vision on how to maximize the training efforts in = the=20 province is really needed. If you are interested please let the SAR = Alberta=20 board know.

CONFERENCE

If you haven=92t signed up for the conference this year please do so. = It is=20 going to be a very good event and some significant changes are going to = be=20 kicked off with this conference. The price does include all your = accommodation=20 and meals so it is a very good deal. Parkland Search and Rescue would = appreciate=20 the support and SAR Alberta needs to see all the teams at the AGM. The = lineup=20 for the conference is really great so don=92t miss out.

Monica Ahlstrom mavada at cruzinternet.com

President SAR Alberta

SARVAC

SARVAC Update =96 April 2009 (Also from Monica).

On April 4, the Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada = (SARVAC)=20 held a strategic planning session in Toronto. Over the last years SARVAC = has=20 been working on restructuring its governance model. Part of this has = come about=20 as the result of a NIF (New Initiative fund) SARVAC received from the = National=20 Search and Rescue Secretariat, that was to be used in part to help build = capacity within SARVAC. This capacity building was part of a larger NIF = that is=20 being used to implement a national prevention program that was = originally=20 developed in BC.

In the past SARVAC=92s governance model was based on the "working = board" model,=20 a model which most SAR groups use and are familiar with. On a working = board the=20 members are expected to do most of the work for the organization through = committees, etc, and it is up to them to implement the policies they = set.

SARVAC is switching to a Policy board =96 which will shift the focus = from the=20 day-to-day task of running the organization to that of developing = strategic=20 policy and direction. The implementation of these policy directions will = be left=20 to the hired staff SARVAC now has.

SARVAC has been able to move to this type of board as it now has two = hired=20 staff members. Last year SARVAC received a NIF grant that included hired = staff=20 as part of the proposal.

RCMP CHAMPION

The RCMP are now the champions at a national level for ground SAR. = Though the=20 RCMP has always played a role in Ottawa on ground SAR issues there was = no one=20 agency in Ottawa that clearly represented ground search and rescue to = the=20 federal government. The RCMP will now officially have that role.

ADVENTURE SMART PROGRAM

SARVAC is going to instruct 10 more people from each province to = become=20 presenters of the Adventure Smart program. This training is tentatively=20 scheduled for October. SARVAC will cover all expenses for the training = including=20 travel, and accommodation. SAR Alberta will be setting out criteria for = those=20 who will be selected and will be providing more information on this = initiative=20 in the coming months.

SARVAC will also be training a Master trainer from each province who = will be=20 able to instruct others in delivery of the program. This training = session is for=20 one person only and will be held in June in Vancouver. SARVAC has asked = that=20 when possible, one of the original three individuals sent to the first = training=20 program last October be selected. SAR Alberta will work with our three=20 candidates to select this person.

RED DEER EXPRESS ARTICLE

04/01/09

BY JOHNNIE BACHUSKY

Red Deer Express

Seven Red Deer and area citizens are home from disaster.

That=92s Disaster City in Texas.

The seven men and women are volunteers with the Red Deer Search and = Rescue=20 Technical Rescue Team.

From last Friday to Monday they attended the 52-acre training = facility,=20 dubbed Disaster City, in College Station, Texas. It is the second = consecutive=20 year the local rescue team attended to learn new life saving skills and=20 techniques. This year the seven locals participated in a full scale = disaster=20 exercise in conjunction with Texas Task Force 1 (TTF).

"They (TTF) have a team of 300 people, and every year they take a = third of=20 that team and have a major exercise for the weekend," said Ric = Henderson,=20 planning section chief for the Red Deer search and rescue team. "We = fitted in=20 with the team, doing the search part and where people are, and the = rescue.

"One of our team members is a nurse and has done some medical = training with=20 them as well," said Henderson, who is also assistant county manager for = Red Deer=20 County. "She was part of the medical team. Other people, such as myself, = were=20 shadowing some of their team leaders as part of the team = management."

Disaster City is adjacent to the world-renowned Brayton Fire Training = Field,=20 and offers a full array of skills and techniques sought by emergency = response=20 professionals from all corners of the world.

"They actually built a town and pretty much wrecked it, with = overturned buses=20 with fake people in them and collapsed buildings," said Bev Sliger, = president of=20 the 70-member, all volunteer local search and rescue team.

"It is a very, very unique and interesting place."

Created by the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), the mock = community=20 features full-scale, collapsible structures designed to simulate various = levels=20 of disaster and wreckage which can be customized for the specific = training needs=20 of any group.

TTF is considered one of the most active search and rescue teams in = the U.S.,=20 having responded to at least one major disaster each year since its = inception in=20 1998.

From the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks to Hurricane Katrina=92s = devastation,=20 TTF=92s urban search and rescue and water rescue teams are renowned for = their=20 expertise in responding to both man-made and natural disasters.

Local team members attended last weekend=92s Texan exercise at their = own=20 expense and time. Its goal was to bring home new rescue skills as well = as a=20 shopping list of new life saving technical items that will assist the = team in=20 future challenges.

"When people want to move ahead and gain skills for our team we are = 100 per=20 cent behind that. They take time from their jobs to do this. They go = down at=20 their own expense," said Sliger, adding team members worked 10 to 14 = hours a day=20 during their Texas training. "Everything we do is pretty much at our own = expense, or what we fundraise for. It is hugely costly. The flight alone = is=20 costly.

"And they always come back and want more toys so we do more fund = raising,"=20 added Sliger.

Contributed by Rodney Dietrich accountinggod at shaw.ca

A different report, but about the same training session was sent by = Ric=20 Henderson. The information may be the same as above, but editor didn=92t = want to=20 leave anyone out.

Local Rescuers Train in Texas

On Friday March 27, seven volunteer members of the Red Deer Search = and Rescue=20 Technical Rescue Team will travel to College Station Texas to = participate in a=20 full scale disaster exercise, over the upcoming weekend, in conjunction = with=20 Texas Task Force 1. The two teams entered into a memorandum of agreement = earlier=20 this year after Red Deer team members trained at =91Disaster City=92 in = Texas over=20 the Labour Day weekend.

Texas Task Force 1 is one of the most active search and rescue teams = in the=20 U.S., having responded to at least one major disaster each year since = its=20 inception in 1998. From the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks to Hurricane = Katrina=92s devastation, Texas Task Force 1=92s urban search and rescue = and water=20 rescue teams have expertise in responding to both man-made and natural=20 disasters.

Rescue Team Leader Marcel Schur says the team is excited about the=20 opportunity to train with Texas Task Force 1 as their years of = experience will=20 be valuable in developing the Red Deer Team members knowledge and = skills.

Red Deer Search and Rescue is a non-profit organization founded in = June of=20 1996 by a group of outdoor enthusiasts with a desire to contribute their = skills=20 for the benefit of those who have become lost or missing. Working in = partnership=20 with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Municipalities and other = volunteer=20 search and rescue organizations in Alberta, the Team is ready to provide = their=20 volunteer services anywhere and at anytime. Technical Rescue Team = members are=20 trained in high angle, confined space, structural collapse, and swift = water=20 rescue.

Red Deer Search and Rescue Texas Task Force 1

www.reddeersar.com=20 ....................................................http://usar.tamu.edu/= =20  

For further info, contact:

Bev Sliger, President Red Deer SAR............................Ric = Henderson,=20 Red Deer SAR

403-396-3330..........................................................= .....403-505-3069

GET READY IN THE PARK

Edmonton=92s Emergency Response event in Hawrelak Park on Saturday = May=20 9th,10am to 4pm, has a poster on the Edmonton website where = more info=20 can be found. www.edmonton.ca/oep

Mike Cook mike.cook at edmonton.ca Sent=20 a poster that could not be reproduced here and a link to it on the = Edmonton=20 website.

Actually, Mike, I looked and couldn=92t find the poster or the info = at that=20 link. Maybe check with their webmaster. (Editor)

SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS

Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the = middle of=20 each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the = 14th of=20 each month.

Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings = mailing? If so,=20 please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish = advertised. It=20 will then give ample time for those reading it to respond.

Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca = PLEASE DO=20 include contact information for members to gain further information.

 

To subscribe or unsubscribe visit=20 http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter = your=20 e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will = need to=20 click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on = the=20 same page.

 

------=_NextPart_000_0142_01C9C043.0DD58A50-- From choare at shaw.ca Sun May 17 14:52:34 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Sun, 17 May 2009 14:52:34 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings May 2009 Message-ID: <51822CFD1599420BA31AC626AC1E0533@user978bb393cd> Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMUNICATIONS ISSUE Greetings.... A SAR Alberta strategic planning session was recently held on May 9, and communication was identified as a top priority - this should not be a surprise to anyone. Jan Hurl and myself have been tasked with a communication project to improved the flow of information out to everyone. As you know, a lot of times there is a breakdown in communications along the way, so we are proposing that WHAT IF every team member on every team in the province provided SAR Alberta with their email addresses. Then the information could actually get to everyone. The information could include a quarterly newsletter, SARA Happenings, stats, conference info, training info and the list goes on and on. SAR Alberta - 38 teams with approximately 1500 professional volunteers - 17 associate members - removing the "what is SAR Alberta doing for me" by being able to communicate with every volunteer in the province and letting them know what we are doing and what's happening - Being able to not have communication an issue within the SAR Alberta community - PRICELESS We have already had some teams provide us their individual members email addresses - can we count on your teams support in putting the communication issue to bed? Rodney Dietrich SAR Alberta - Treasurer accountinggod at shaw.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAR BASICS COURSE There is an update on the contact for this course. Sundre VSAR is running a SAR Basics course in June 2009 June 13/14 and 27/28 2009 Sundre Arena meeting room 08:00 to 16:30 approx. instructor ; Les Brace Cost $150.00 p/p New Contact; Cerah Vincent Spoor, our new Training Director Our new email address is svsartraining at hotmail.com Please contact Cerah for all info about this course. We will see you all some where down the road Thanks, Renny Norsworthy arms_rn56 at hotmail.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAREX 2009 Rodney Dietrich sends the following link to all information on SAREX 2009 at Yosemite September 10th to 12th http://www.sarex2009.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOOGLE EARTH USED FOR SEARCHES AND RECOVERY Your editor came across this information in the international edition of Der Spiegel. An article on Der Spiegel online edition April 28th gave some examples of the use of Google Earth data, including a recovery mission (unfortunately not a rescue) that might interest SAR members. The following missing person website concerns a light plane crash in the US. http://www.n2700q.com/ The Google Earth info and maps http://www.n2700q.com/googleearth.html The whole Der Spiegel Article, with more examples, can be found here: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,621645,00.html#ref=nlint -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20090517/49cb483c/attachment.htm From choare at shaw.ca Mon Jun 15 11:52:20 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:52:20 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings June 2009 Message-ID: <488C8F3459FC44C09D6643A2B1C5512C@user978bb393cd> Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STAMPEDE PARADE VOLUNTEERS CALSARA provides volunteers every year for the Calgary Stampede Parade to be Parade Marshalls; we literally are in the parade with the best locations on the parade route. Duties involve crowd control, first aid, leading the cheer sections, promoting SAR/Calgary/Alberta/The Calgary Stampede, handing out prizes, and communications with fire, police and EMS. Date: Friday July 3 Time: 6:30 - 11:30 Where: assigned location along the parade route in downtown Calgary Uniforms, current First aid certificates are mandatory. Training, maps, partners and arm bands will be provided For further information contact Fred Mills at 403-603-8886 or email me at f.mills56 at gmail.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMUNICATIONS ISSUE Greetings.... A SAR Alberta strategic planning session was recently held on May 9, and communication was identified as a top priority - this should not be a surprise to anyone. Jan Hurl and myself have been tasked with a communication project to improved the flow of information out to everyone. As you know, a lot of times there is a breakdown in communications along the way, so we are proposing that WHAT IF every team member on every team in the province provided SAR Alberta with their email addresses. Then the information could actually get to everyone. The information could include a quarterly newsletter, SARA Happenings, stats, conference info, training info and the list goes on and on. SAR Alberta - 38 teams with approximately 1500 professional volunteers - 17 associate members - removing the "what is SAR Alberta doing for me" by being able to communicate with every volunteer in the province and letting them know what we are doing and what's happening - Being able to not have communication an issue within the SAR Alberta community - PRICELESS We have already had some teams provide us their individual members email addresses - can we count on your teams support in putting the communication issue to bed? Rodney Dietrich SAR Alberta - Treasurer accountinggod at shaw.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE 2009 On April 24 to 26, the Search and Rescue Alberta 2009 Provincial Conference took place at Camp He-Ho-Ha in Parkland County, Alberta. The conference was sponsored jointly by Search and Rescue Alberta (SARA) and Parkland Search and Rescue (PSAR), and hosted by Parkland Search and Rescue. 60 SAR volunteer members from across Alberta and Saskatchewan attended the conference, which for the first time, was held in a wilderness camp setting. There were 17 presenters speaking on a variety of topics such as night tracking, the weather radio system, working with volunteer boards, recruiting and maintaining volunteers, fire extinguisher use and search dog lectures and demonstrations. Two plenary presenters included Mr. David Hodgins, Managing Director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) and Mr George Field of Parks Alberta - Kanaskis Country. Mr. Hodgins talked about the current state and future of search and rescue in Alberta, and Mr. Field presented a search scenario that included delegate involvement. The conference was an all-inclusive package that included lodging, presentations, accommodation and evening activities. In addition to the delegates and presenters, there were also three displayers, TST Canada, the Resource Centre for Voluntary Organizations, and Image Wear, a division of Marks Work Wearhouse. Major contributors to the conference included the Alberta Emergency Management Agency , Parkland County, and the Real Canadian Superstore. Delegate information and door prizes were supplied by numerous agencies and businesses, including the Co-operators Insurance, Home Hardware, the RCMP, Weather Radio Canada, the National Search and Rescue Secretariat (NSS), as well as numerous others. This event also included the annual general meeting of SARA at which the new board of directors was elected. For more information on the SAR Alberta 2009 Provincial Conference contact Norman Mathew at normanmathew at xplornet.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAREX 2009 Rodney Dietrich sends the following link to all information on SAREX 2009 at Yosemite September 10th to 12th http://www.sarex2009.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20090615/8ec40d51/attachment.html From choare at shaw.ca Mon Aug 17 20:12:50 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:12:50 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings -- August 2009 Message-ID: <769AC74BF9A5481CA550811F9C09F378@user978bb393cd> Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPERATION OCTOPUS It's official - Operation Octopus will be underway October 24th and 25th, 2009. Mark your calendar and plan to come for what proves to be a great team building exercise - for your own local team as well as for the greater SAR Alberta team. There will be fun, adventure and even food so plan to attend so that we make this a great experience for all of us. We learn more from each other in action than we ever could from a book. Talk to your team so that you can RSVP basic numbers by October 1st. Put together some items from your club to be put in for a draw, pack up your tent and be ready to roll! There will be camping available and some meals, but we want this to be as much like a real search as possible some come with that in mind and be ready and eager to meet new people and gain new ideas. Let's show Alberta what Search and Rescue is really about! Any questions? Please feel free to contact Edward Van Heeren at president at rockysar.com or look at the Rocky SAR website and feel free to contact SAR Alberta. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS IS BACK ... ... but a bit thinner. Sorry about last month, but I had a rather hectic June and July with my wife's brother in hospital. I didn't get a lot of submissions for this one - I guess due to the holiday season. You've seen the one notice that was sent, above - thanks Rodney - and I've poached and transcribed a couple of SAR related items from online. They will be next. From bogus@does.not.exist.com Mon Aug 17 21:13:45 2009 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:13:45 -0000 Subject: No subject Message-ID: The tragedy that befell Gilles Blackburn and his wife during a = disastrous backcountry ski venture in the B.C. Interior was their own = fault, according to those implicated in a lawsuit launched by Mr. = Blackburn and his two children. In statements of defence filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the Golden = search-and-rescue team, the RCMP and the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, = where the couple had stayed, deny any responsibility for the loss of Mr. = Blackburn's wife, Marie-Jos=E9e Fortin, who froze to death during the = 10-day ordeal. The main thrust of Mr. Blackburn's lawsuit is that officials were = negligent in failing to launch a search-and-rescue mission despite the = spotting of several large SOS signs stamped in the snow in the first = week after the skiers became lost last February, and when Ms. Fortin was = still alive... ...the RCMP says that the couple's own negligence "caused or contributed = to [Ms. Fortin's] death." The statement refers to: the couple's "deliberate choice" to ski outside = marked ski runs, their failure to notify anyone of their plans, their = lack of proper clothing, equipment and means of contacting others, and = their decision to stray from the SOS signs "so that they could be = rescued in a timely manner." Similar observations are made in the defence statement filed by the = Golden and District Search and Rescue Association. Any injury or damages suffered by Mr. Blackburn and his children were = caused "whole or in part by the negligence of Gilles Blackburn and/or = the deceased," the search and rescue team says. From bogus@does.not.exist.com Mon Aug 17 21:13:45 2009 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:13:45 -0000 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Rudy Hane didn't expect to be the subject of a search and rescue search = when he changed the old emergency beacon from his Cessna and stashed it = in the trunk of his car. However, at some later time another object in = the trunk must have hit it and set it off. The faint distress signal was picked up by an Air Canada jetliner, a = small plane, and the local control tower. Although there had been no = notification of a crash two search and rescue teams were dispatched, one = in the air and one on the ground - as well as a military rescue chopper = from Trenton. About one o'clock in the morning the military chopper narrowed the = search area down to Rudy Hane's driveway and landed nearby. The military = also called for assistance from the local police. All this resulted in a = late night crowd on Rudy Hane's doorstep when he answered the knock on = his door. The questions about the distress signals immediately clued him = in. Very apologetically he went to the trunk of his car and pulled out = the offending device.=20 One more Search and Rescue success, but no-body was found - just a red = face. -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- SAREX 2009 Rodney Dietrich sends the following link to all information on SAREX = 2009 at Yosemite September 10th to 12th=20 http://www.sarex2009.com/=20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS=20 Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the = middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the = 14th of each month.=20 =20 Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? = If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish = advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to = respond.=20 Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca = PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further = information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit = http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings = enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic = subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can = subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page.=20 ------=_NextPart_000_00F9_01CA1F77.18329D60 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hi All:
 
SARA Happenings is issued to foster = communication=20 within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 = e-mail=20 addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member = groups or=20 which were requested to be added to the mailing list.
Subscription = and=20 unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. =
 

OPERATION OCTOPUS
 
It=92s official =96 Operation Octopus will be underway October 24th = and 25th,=20 2009.  Mark your calendar and plan to come for what proves to be a = great=20 team building exercise =96 for your own local team as well as for the = greater SAR=20 Alberta team.  There will be fun, adventure and even food so plan = to attend=20 so that we make this a great experience for all of us.  We learn = more from=20 each other in action than we ever could from a book.
 
Talk to your team so that you can RSVP basic numbers by October = 1st. =20 Put together some items from your club to be put in for a draw, pack up = your=20 tent and be ready to roll!  There will be camping available and = some meals,=20 but we want this to be as much like a real search as possible some come = with=20 that in mind and be ready and eager to meet new people and gain new = ideas. =20 Let=92s show Alberta what Search and Rescue is really about!
 
Any questions?  Please feel free to contact Edward Van Heeren = at president at rockysar.com or = look at the=20 Rocky SAR website and feel free to contact SAR Alberta. 
 

SARA HAPPENINGS IS BACK ...
 
... but a bit thinner. Sorry about last month, but I had a rather = hectic=20 June and July with my wife=92s brother in hospital. I didn=92t get a lot = of=20 submissions for this one =96 I guess due to the holiday season. You=92ve = seen the=20 one notice that was sent, above  =96 thanks Rodney =96 and I=92ve = poached and=20 transcribed a couple of SAR related items from online.
 
They will be next.
 
From the Globe and Mail ...
 
The tragedy that befell Gilles Blackburn and his wife during a = disastrous=20 backcountry ski venture in the B.C. Interior was their own fault, = according to=20 those implicated in a lawsuit launched by Mr. Blackburn and his two=20 children.
 
In statements of defence filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the Golden=20 search-and-rescue team, the RCMP and the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, = where=20 the couple had stayed, deny any responsibility for the loss of Mr. = Blackburn's=20 wife, Marie-Jos=E9e Fortin, who froze to death during the 10-day = ordeal.
 
The main thrust of Mr. Blackburn's lawsuit is that officials were = negligent=20 in failing to launch a search-and-rescue mission despite the spotting of = several=20 large SOS signs stamped in the snow in the first week after the skiers = became=20 lost last February, and when Ms. Fortin was still alive...
 
...the RCMP says that the couple's own negligence =93caused or = contributed to=20 [Ms. Fortin's] death.=94
 
The statement refers to: the couple's =93deliberate choice=94 to = ski outside=20 marked ski runs, their failure to notify anyone of their plans, their = lack of=20 proper clothing, equipment and means of contacting others, and their = decision to=20 stray from the SOS signs =93so that they could be rescued in a timely=20 manner.=94
 
Similar observations are made in the defence statement filed by the = Golden=20 and District Search and Rescue Association.
 
Any injury or damages suffered by Mr. Blackburn and his children = were=20 caused =93whole or in part by the negligence of Gilles Blackburn and/or = the=20 deceased,=94 the search and rescue team says.
 

From The Record; Waterloo Region ...
 
Rudy Hane didn=92t expect to be the subject of a search and rescue = search=20 when he changed the old emergency beacon from his Cessna and stashed it = in the=20 trunk of his car. However, at some later time another object in the = trunk must=20 have hit it and set it off.
 
The faint distress signal was picked up by an Air Canada jetliner, = a small=20 plane, and the local control tower. Although there had been no = notification of a=20 crash two search and rescue teams were dispatched, one in the air and = one on the=20 ground =96 as well as a military rescue chopper from Trenton.
 
About one o=92clock in the morning the military chopper narrowed = the search=20 area down to Rudy Hane=92s driveway and landed nearby. The military also = called=20 for assistance from the local police. All this resulted in a late night = crowd on=20 Rudy Hane=92s doorstep when he answered the knock on his door. The = questions about=20 the distress signals immediately clued him in. Very apologetically he = went to=20 the trunk of his car and pulled out the offending device.
 
One more Search and Rescue success, but no-body was found =96 just = a red=20 face.
 
 
SAREX 2009
 
Rodney Dietrich sends the following link to all information on = SAREX 2009=20 at Yosemite September 10th to 12th
 
 
 
SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS
 
Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the = middle=20 of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of = each=20 month.
 
Does your group have an event posting for the SARA=20 Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to = the=20 dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those = reading it to=20 respond.
 
Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at  choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include = contact=20 information for members to gain further information.
 

To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings=  =20 enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic = subscribers=20 will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me".  You can subscribe = and=20 unsubscribe on the same page.
------=_NextPart_000_00F9_01CA1F77.18329D60-- From choare at shaw.ca Wed Sep 16 19:56:38 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:56:38 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings September 2009 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITOR'S WORD Only one program oriented item this month - which first appeared in last month's newsletter. I guess there's not much SAR traffic right now, but it would be a good time for groups to post their good news. I did a short trawl of the Internet to come up with one item that may interest SAR members. It's after the only notice, below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPERATION OCTOPUS It's official - Operation Octopus will be underway October 24th and 25th, 2009. Mark your calendar and plan to come for what proves to be a great team building exercise - for your own local team as well as for the greater SAR Alberta team. There will be fun, adventure and even food so plan to attend so that we make this a great experience for all of us. We learn more from each other in action than we ever could from a book. Talk to your team so that you can RSVP basic numbers by October 1st. Put together some items from your club to be put in for a draw, pack up your tent and be ready to roll! There will be camping available and some meals, but we want this to be as much like a real search as possible some come with that in mind and be ready and eager to meet new people and gain new ideas. Let's show Alberta what Search and Rescue is really about! Any questions? Please feel free to contact Edward Van Heeren at president at rockysar.com or look at the Rocky SAR website and feel free to contact SAR Alberta. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES. The article I include is the abstract of a US National Science Foundation Award to investigate using small UAVs in back country search and rescue operations. I see the investigation was supposed to end last year - does anyone know if it did or if it's still ongoing? I became interested in the topic some years ago when I did front end work in the bush for geophysical exploration. While I could sometimes get a client to spring for helicopter scouting there were many times when I wished for a small ramp-launched eye-in-the sky to check out difficult terrain. I visited a manufacturer of the early vehicles once in England. He built small UAVs of the dimensions mentioned in the abstract - mostly used to provide inconspicuous aerial observation for the police in Ireland. A thousand feet up they were silent and invisible for all practical purposes. The problem of remote piloting was an obstacle to me and I see the solution to that was part of this investigation. National Science Foundation Award #0534736 UAV-Enabled Wilderness Search and Rescue: A Human-Centered Approach Investigator(s): Michael Goodrich (PI) ; Timothy McLain (Co-PI) ; Bryan Morse (Co-PI) Sponsor: Brigham Young University, UT 84602 8014226177 Start Date/Expiration Date 2005-11-01 to 2008-10-31 (amended 2005-11-08) Awarded Amount to Date: $501,426 Abstract: Wilderness search and rescue (WSAR) is the task of finding and giving assistance to humans who are lost or injured in mountain, desert, lake, river, or other remote settings. Because of the vast distances involved in wilderness settings, searchers frequently depend on surveillance from helicopters and small airplanes. Although these resources are very useful for searchers, the have limitations: resources consume considerable cost, there can be delays between when the resources are needed and when they arrive, ground searchers and pilots must overcome communications barriers between them, and the aircraft may not be able to provide low level imagery because of flying restrictions associated with rugged terrain. The central hypothesis of this project is that mini (3-5 foot wing spans), fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be used by WSAR personnel to efficiently find people in the wilderness. The human factors issues associated with small UAVs are much different than those associated with large UAVs, mostly because small UAVs for WSAR personnel imply limitations on operator training, sensor capacity, autonomy capability, and flight time. The PI's plan is to develop operator interfaces and UAV autonomy for WSAR systems that allow people without RC-piloting skills to search an area, using either online or offline approaches. When working online, the PI will adopt a non-pilot operator perspective and design autonomy to allow operators working in an "augmented virtuality" environment to "guide the camera" rather than fly the UAV. In situations where information from a UAV's video is to be recorded and used in offline information retrieval and analysis, the PI will pursue an active mosaic approach in which video images are overlaid on terrain maps. The PI will employ a strongly human-centered approach in all phases of the project, both for creating the WSAR systems and for evaluating them, in which expertise from researchers in human-robot interaction, computer vision, controls, and artificial intelligence is integrated. User studies will include field tests with WSAR personnel, investigation of current work practice in WSAR teams, usefulness of active mosaicing for offline and online searches, and so on. Broader Impacts: Each year, many people are lost or find themselves in jeopardy while hiking, boating/kayaking, skiing, fishing, etc. Each year, wilderness search and rescue consumes thousands of person-hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars in Utah alone. With each hour that passes between the time that a person is lost and WSAR people find the victim, the effective search radius grows by approximately 3km. Each hour spent in the water or lost in the woods decreases the likelihood of a successful rescue. A portable UAV with appropriate interfaces, autonomy, and sensor processing at an affordable price should decrease the amount of time required between when searchers arrive at a scene and the time when aerial surveillance is present to support their efforts. Such a system would increase the probability of successful rescue. NSF Org: IIS - Division of Information & Intelligent Systems Award Number: 0534736 Award Instrument: Standard Grant Program Manager: Ephraim P. Glinert IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems CSE Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering NSF Program(s): HUMAN COMPUTER INTER PROGRAM Field Application(s): Human Subjects, Information Systems Program Reference Code(s): BASIC RESEARCH & HUMAN RESORCS, 9218 COLLABORATIVE SYSTEMS, 7496 Program Element Code(s): 6845 Downloaded from - http://www.sciencestorm.com/award/0534736.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20090916/0d629f31/attachment.htm From choare at shaw.ca Sat Sep 26 20:55:08 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:55:08 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings Supplement September 2009 Message-ID: <90A5512082E64573B95A42E184C34779@user978bb393cd> Hi All: This is a supplemental edition for September. SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VITAL STATS ON OPERATION OCTOPUS WHEN: October 24th and 25th - sign in will start at 0930 with the exercise beginning at 1000. There will be two operational periods of approximately 7 hours in duration - please let us know if there is a preference. Sunday a.m. will have a specific educational/training session with aims of being done by noon on Sunday to allow for travel. WHERE: Chambers Creek Group camps site located on the east side of Highway 11 approximately 35 kilometers from Rocky Mountain House (if you hit Nordegg you went too far). Camping will be available, first come first serve at the group site but other areas will be available such as Crimson Lake and Hela Ventures (some cabins may also be available). The Chambers Creek general campground is closed for the season. Apparently there will also be some trailer and tenting sites available at Horburg. Further details will be forwarded on as we have them. WHO: All Alberta SAR members. Only those members with SAR Basics will be allowed in the field. Those with quads will require the safety course and appropriate gear. Any and all support and auxiliary personnel are welcome and will be used both in the exercise scenario or as logistical help for the scenario. WHY: To enhance inter-team relations and communication and to also show off the skills of the SAR community in the province of Alberta. Other important notes: ? We will be taking a group break from 1700-1900 hours on Saturday to enjoy a meal together and mingle with team members as well as media and dignitaries ? A pancake breakfast will be provided on Sunday a.m. for all participants ? We need a team RSVP by October 5th at the latest. Any sent after that will not likely be fed. Please indicate which operational period you are available for. ? There is potential for some remuneration if receipts are kept. On that same note please try and carpool etc. to decrease costs of such ? Make sure to emphasize that we will be running this as a real search therefore people must come prepared for the first 24 hours. One of the main goals is to see how we can all perform on a large scale so there will be hiccups etc. That is part of the learning process. Come prepared to give your all, including constructive feedback on behalf of your team. If you have other thoughts or questions you can contact Edward Van Heeren president at rockysar.com Look forward to seeing you and yours in October! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE PRESIDENT Following is an update on some of the issues being dealt with over the summer - ? Insurance o Dwight Osbaldeston, Senior Advisor with AEMA has been researching the various options available for the insurance for SAR. One of the challenges is that the Alberta Government has a policy in place saying they can't pay for insurance for organizations - however, they could grant SAR Alberta the money and do it that way. Mr. Osbaldeston was emailed and asked for an update - he said he has completed his research and a briefing note was sent to the Minister. He said government protocol doesn't allow for anyone to say what was in the briefing note other than the Minister. When asked what the government process was from here there was no reply. ? Letters to MLA's and Ministers o In July SAR Alberta wrote letters to all the MLA's in the province explaining search and rescue in the province and SAR Alberta. We have received a number of replies - mostly from cabinet ministers in support of search and rescue and expressing their thanks for the work SAR does. ? NIF o SAR Alberta has put in a New Initiatives Fund proposal to help build the capacity and sustainability of the organization. It will be a three year project that will include a recruitment and retention program for teams. It will also see staff hired to help with both recruitment and retention and with capacity building of the organization. ? Grant and contract o After much delay we have received the money for the $25,000 grant. We will be hiring someone on contract to help SAR Alberta develop a framework to make the organization more financially stable. They will also help start the process of looking at our governance model. As the person is being hired later than anticipated there may be an opportunity to use some of the funds to help us with our website. o There are other grants and government incentives available to teams that need to be advertised. Both the Justice Minister and the Minister of Culture and Spirit etc. have noted this. Calgary SAR uses one of the programs and has a link to more information. SAR Alberta will explore these options and get more information out to the teams. ? Provincial Exercise o Rocky SAR has planned to hold the provincial exercise on October 24, and 25. All teams are encouraged to attend. I will be asking all regional directors to phone the teams in their area to confirm that they know about the exercise and to find out how many people from each team will be going. AEMA, the RCMP, CANADA Task Force, SARVAC President Harry Blackmore and possibly STARS, are all going to attend the event so far. ? Training Grant o SAR Alberta is seeking someone to take over the training grant coordinators position. This will be an interesting year and all grants are up in the air as the government reviews its budget. ? Standards o The telecoms standard will be used at the provincial exercise and will be sent out to all the teams this week. A "cheat sheet" will be made available to the those showing up for the exercise. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20090926/4dd94df0/attachment.htm From choare at shaw.ca Thu Oct 15 20:17:32 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:17:32 -0600 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings October 2009 Message-ID: Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IT'S ONLY 10 DAYS AWAY Operation Octopus will officially be underway in less than 10 days. October 24th and 25th. We are excited to report that we have at least 130 searchers who have confirmed their attendance and at least another 25-20 support and technical personnel who will be joining us for this exciting learning endeavor. A few new notes to pass on to you: * Canada Task Force 2 (CAN2) will be attending and will be providing some much anticipated warmth and sustenance. Seeing what this team has to offer will make it very much worthwhile to come out *There will registration both at the gate to Chambers Creek as well as official exercise registration for those actively in the search which will be at the command post. Please make sure you put yourself down so we can accurately reflect our numbers *There will be supper on Saturday night from 1700-1900 for ALL to attend. *Sunday morning there will be breakfast for everyone there and this will be followed at 0900 by an education session. *We would request that each team attending have one team leader/representative that will be able to attend the final debriefing at 1100 on Sunday and speak on behalf of their team. This same person will also be responsible for collecting mileage and accommodation receipts and submitting them. We will have an expense form available for people to fill out. We are very optimistic that there will be reimbursement potential, but until all bills and receipts are in exact amounts cannot be tabulated. Therefore we are asking everyone to submit their mileage and receipts to Rocky Search and Rescue by November 6, 2009. *There is some random camping available at the area, but as previously mentioned Hela Ventures also have tenting and RV sites available as well as some cabins. This site is only 5 minutes from the search base. As well, there are a number of possibilities in Rocky which is 32 km from the search base. The Walking Eagle Lodge (403-845-2804) in particular has allowed for a corporate rate ($55-97), so if booking with them please mention that you will be attending. Any other last minute questions can be directed to Edward Van Heeren at president at rockysar.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE SARA PRESIDENT InsuranceThere has been no announcement or any indication from the Minister Ray Danyluk's office on what direction they are going to take with the insurance. When asked for an update and what options were being looked at the reply was that a briefing note "with all the salient points" had been sent to the Minister but protocol did not allow them to release what was in that briefing - only the Minister could release the information. Though AEMA has called SAR Alberta for information it has at no time sat down and discussed the various options on the table and possible solutions. SAR Alberta will continue to pursue the matter to ensure that teams are adequately covered in the province. Provincial Exercise Over 150 participants are expected to attend the provincial exercise on Oct 24 and 25. Invited guests for the event will include Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada President Harry Blackmore and Executive Director David Day who will be coming out from Newfoundland. SAR Alberta appreciates all those SAR volunteers who have committed their time to participate in the event. We hope you have a good time and that it is a useful and fun experience for all that attend. Contract position SAR Alberta is now advertising for the contract position to help in building the capacity for the organization. If you are interested or know of someone who may be interested in this position please contact your board member or the SAR Alberta Executive. Adventure Smart SAR Alberta now has 13 people trained in the Adventure Smart program who will eventually be training other trainers in the province. A committee has been set up to work on the roll out of the program across the province. Carianne Budalich from Grande Prairie Technical SAR is the committee chair. All teams are encouraged to get the initial training in of the three modules within the program. All those who currently teach Hug-A-Tree should learn the new Adventure Smart program as Hug-A-Tree is copyrighted and must be taught in a specific way. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STANDARDS COMMITTEE Good day fellow SAR providers The standards committee has made some progress over the summer with regards to Quad, Snowmobile, and the Boat standard. The standards were submitted in the appropriate format by Al Tomalty and were presented to the SAR AB exec and board members that attended the Sept board meeting by myself. The board voted to accept the standards with one small change to the snowmobile standard, recognizing the Portage college as a course provider. Keep in mind that these are the minimum standards and if the situation that your particular team is in requires extra JPR's ( job performance requirements ) you can customize the course, with the approved instructor, to meet your requirements. The standards committee is working with AEMA on the Basic SAR Skills standard and we should see something in the near future on this matter. The new standards were sent to the board members for distribution on Sept 27th and should have been forwarded to all members of all teams by now. If you have not seen them please e-mail your regional rep or myself to receive a copy. We all need to be diligent at being on the same page in the knowledge department as far as standards implementation. Don Drebert ddrebert at telus.net Vice President Search and Rescue Alberta 780-542-2817 (H) 780-202-2817 (C) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAR SERVICE AWARDS Mike Self has submitted the following request for everyone to remember that applications for the SAR Service Awards must be submitted on the proper form and format. Quote "As you are aware our call letter and application form for SAR Service Awards has gone out through SARAB for posting on their site. We are starting to receive service award submissions on the wrong forms, incomplete submissions and submissions involving only names on simple e-mails." The instructions are appended below. September 24th, 2009 An open letter to all Civilian Search and Rescue Volunteers: The experience and commitment of SAR volunteers is an important resource in assisting the RCMP in our delivery of Search and Rescue Service throughout Alberta. Consequently, the "K" Division RCMP has implemented an award program to acknowledge the contribution of Civilian Search and Rescue Volunteers to the RCMP at our detachments throughout Alberta. The award consists of a uniquely designed certificate and lapel pin which will be presented to volunteers who have completed five, ten, or fifteen years of Search and Rescue service. All Search and Rescue volunteers are eligible to apply for the award, regardless of their role with the team. The only eligibility requirements are that the volunteers be a current member in good standing with his or her Search and Rescue team and that they have volunteered the required number of years for the award requested It is our intention to maintain the program through the future, and in the fullness of time, the award levels will be increased to recognize volunteers reaching twenty or more years of service. Once the years of historical service are accounted for and acknowledged, the program will settle into a pattern of presenting the awards with natural progression as volunteers move through the years of service landmarks. As 2003 saw the launch of the program, we realize that the service periods for eligible volunteers will vary widely, the cut off date for the year 2009 eligible service has been set at December 31st, 2009, and any volunteers having completed five, ten, fifteen or 20 years of service as of that date are eligible for one or more awards, matching their years of service. Search and Rescue groups are invited to review their records and submit the names of eligible candidates, and where applicable, indicate those volunteers deserving of multiple awards. It is the responsibility the volunteer's Search and Rescue team, as well as the volunteer, to ensure that an application is submitted to request an award. Applications must be submitted to the RCMP "K" Division SAR Coordinator by February 28th, 2010. Incomplete applications will not be considered and will be returned. Completed forms must be sent to the RCMP "K" Division SAR Coordinator via E-MAIL: mike.self at rcmp-grc.gc.ca OR al.fraser at rcmp-grc.gc.ca This is applicable to the initial launch as well as through coming years. The RCMP will not be maintaining a database of Search and Rescue volunteers and automatically generating the awards. The partnership between the RCMP and the civilian Search and Rescue community is an integral part of our Search and Rescue presence in Alberta and we are grateful for your unselfish commitment to your community. Sincerely yours M. W. (Mike) SELF, Sgt. Mike.SELF at rcmp-grc.gc.ca "K" Division Criminal Operations SAR Coordinator 11140 - 109th Street Edmonton, AB, T5G 2T4 RCMP "K" DIVISION 2009 CIVILIAN SAR VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION AWARD INSTRUCTION for COMPLETION 1.Applications for the RCMP "K" Division Civilian SAR Volunteer recognition Award must be submitted on the included form. (See SARA website) 2.An eligible applicant is any Civilian SAR Volunteer who is a current member in good standing with a SAR team and has completed the required number of years of volunteer SAR service for the award requested as of December 31st 2009. 3.Applications must be received no later than February 28th 2010. 4.Applications must be signed by a member of the applicant's SAR team executive confirming that eligibility requirements have been met. 5.SAR service is calculated on the total years of SAR service and does not have to be continuous. Likewise, volunteer SAR service with multiple groups is acceptable. a. example 1: A volunteer who has five years of continuous SAR service divided into 2 years service with SAR Team "A" followed by 3 years service with SAR team "B" would be eligible for an award. b. Example 2: A volunteer who has a total of five years of non-continuous SAR service, e.g. 2 years of service with SAR Team "A" followed by 2 years with no SAR involvement, concluding with 3 years service with SAR team "B" would be eligible for a five year award, albeit the total calendar period spanned more than five calendar years Note: These provisions are included to ensure that volunteers who are forced to relocate or are unable to dedicate to SAR for a period due to work or personal commitments retain their eligibility. 6. Incomplete forms will be not be considered and will be returned to the applicant. The application forms can be downloaded from the SAR Alberta website http://www.saralberta.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALBERTA EMERGENCY SERVICE MEDAL Michelle Limoges and Mary-Ann Warren of the Search & Rescue Dog Association of Alberta (SARDAA) were awarded the Alberta Emergency Service Medal September 30, 2009. These medals are presented, upon application supported by an official agency, to those who have at least 12 years service within the SAR community. Michelle is celebrating 20 years with SARDAA as Secretary and a dog handler; Mary-Ann is celebrating 15 years as a dog handler and contributes her expertise as SARDAA's Training Director. Chief Mike Boyd, Edmonton Police Service, presented the medals on behalf of the Province at a ceremony in Police Headquarters during a regular meeting of the EPS Executive Officers Team. Michelle and Mary-Ann are honoured to have received these medals, particularly since they were presented by Edmonton Police Service with whom we have worked on many SAR incidents. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RACE AGAINST TIME This from Bev Sliger, President, Red Deer Search and Rescue. The images cannot be reproduced here but the two links worked for me. http://media.albertalocalnews.com/images/320*216/A012+rescuers.jpg.jpg Two search and rescuers returned home on Wednesday after spending a full day scouring for earthquake survivors in Indonesia. Marcel Schur and Adam Beverley of the Red Deer-based Canadian International Rescue Organization rushed to help after a powerful earthquake, measuring 7.6 in magnitude, struck the city of Padang and obliterated several... more http://www.zedfm.com/UserFiles/Image/News/RESCUE1.jpg Red Deer men home from rescue mission (Oct 7) - it has been quite a week for two members of the Canadian International Rescue Organisation, based in Red Deer. Team leader Marcel Schur and technical search specialist Adam Beverly left one week ago (Thurs.) for Padang, Indonesia to help U.N. crews search for live victims of two earthquakes. Both men had to put up their own money to go. Schur says they searched collapsed buildings in the city for survivors, but he says unfortunately none were found alive. Beverley and Schur arrived back in Red Deer Tuesday night. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20091015/bfd0658b/attachment.htm From choare at shaw.ca Sat Nov 14 16:16:16 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:16:16 -0700 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings November 2009 Message-ID: <99870C2F31024C7EA9FDBFAE730F2FBA@user978bb393cd> Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REGIONAL REPRESENTATION It was by design that within the province there are 6 regions. Within these regions are many individual SAR organizations of who are represented at the provincial level by the individuals they appoint as Directors and their Deputies. These Board directors are their voice. However there are some regions that are missing full representation either by way of no director or no deputy. It is the member organizations responsibilities to ensure they are having their voice heard by appointing individuals to these positions. I ask that those member organizations who do not have full representation seek out those would be willing to take this task on. As well for those Regional representatives that do not have a director or deputy seek out from those member organizations of which you represent to aid you in locating one. Thank you to those Directors and Deputies who take the time to be representatives for their regions and make a concerted effort at maintaining communication levels between SAR Alberta and SAR member organizations. Thank you Secretary; Mary-Ann Warren mwtracks at netzero.net SAR Alberta -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPERATION OCTOPUS REPORT Congratulations to all of those Search and Rescue volunteers who made the trek to Chambers Creek October 24th and 25th. A big thank you to all of you that took the time to attend as well as all of those members who helped out in any way. Once again, the search and rescue community has shown what it can really do. Not surprising, there were problems along the way, some which may have been operational and others that were organizational. So overall, we learned lots from the organizational aspect (which we will happily share with the next organization to run with it), and we hope all those who attended also learned something, whether as a group or an individual. You will be happy to hear that in part due to some great sponsorship, as well as help from Canada Task Force 2 and SAR Alberta, there will be money to return to those who travelled here. Look for more information to follow in your mailbox. For the enlightenment of all, we felt the following, constructive comments might be good for all of the membership to read. Granted they are only highlights from the evaluators, as well as the team evaluations, but there is some truth for all of us. *registration at the base was confusing and not complete at the initial sign-in; there was some redundant action when people signed in at the road. (ie. It was not clear that sign in at the road was for the site as a whole, while at the base it was for the actual operation) *there was a plan in place for coverage of Rocky SAR in the case of a real call out. (Thanks Red Deer for being ready and willing!) *Search managers and planning staff should know how dog teams work - nobody asked for our suggestions about the most effective search strategy for our teams, or if there is a difference between a tracking dog and an air-scent dog (yes, there is!) *Some of the header info (ie. Search manager and incident file #) should be permanently posted outside the ops center *Make sure gear works before bringing it into the field!!; equipment brought to command site should be search ready and accessible *The search teams could have been intermingled with different team members to allow greater learning opportunities. *Surprised trackers were not used at all ; trackers and dogs should have been deployed first to try and establish line of travel or containment (and for all those who attended, there were tracks purposefully left) *each search manager should carry a management kit so that they can quickly get organized - has all their forms and supplies to manage an event *if repeating this type of exercise, bring in SAR management group in the day before and pre-plan the mission *having command in two different places caused problems *I would like to see a more "feasible" scenario.why we would call SAR province wide. Something like a downed airliner would be better. *event committee should pre-determine and enforce what mapping systems will be used for the event; we should consider using Lat/Long for mapping. All GPS have it and UTM is a hassle for air services which we need. And did we mention that pretty much every sheet mentioned something about COMMUNICATION! I think we all knew that was an issue and likely will be an Achilles heel for a long time to come yet. This is not all inclusive, but hopefully, if nothing else, conversation and team communication was initiated. Thanks again to all who took part in one form or another, and here's hoping we get a chance to grow together again in the near future!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SAR BASICS/SAR FUNDAMENTALS PROGRAM CERTIFICATES Instructors information There has been a lapse in SAR Alberta providing the SAR Basic program certificates. In hopes of rectifying this I have taken on the task of issuing certificates. To obtain certificates for your students for the following years from 2007-present please submit: -Names of participant/s -Dates course was taken -Location of course -Instructor/s name -Instructors mailing address I will also need the SAR basics instructors to provide: -Dates/s on which they took their instructors training -Company or instructor who delivered this training -Instructor Course/s taken I will only be sending these certificates out to the instructors. If you have not yet received your certificate for this course please contact your instructor and give him/her this information. For the future, after a SAR Basics course has been conducted, instructors please submit the information in a timely manner. Submit information to mwtracks at netzero.net Thank you Mary-Ann Warren Secretary SAR Alberta -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEARCH DOG PUPPIES Greetings My name is Christine Lyseng, and I am a former SAR Dog Handler of the now Canadian Search Dog Assoc., formerly called RCMP/CSDA. I now raise and breed Working Belgian Malinois dogs. My adult dogs are directly imported from Holland and have an extremely high working drive. All information on my dogs and litter can be found at the following link. http://www.majesticmalinois.com/puppies/Poster.pdf The following link is to the pedigree of the Dam and Sire, which should have been included with the above information. http://www.majesticmalinois.com/pedigrees/Majestic_A_Litter.pdf It is my hope that you will pass along this information to anyone/group seeking a working dog, as this entire litter possess a very high working drive, and are not suited for the average pet owner. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerest Regards, Christine Lyseng -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GSAR WORKSHOP SAR volunteers from across Canada attended a GSAR workshop in Toronto, October 2 to 4. This workshop was supported by the National Search Secretariat (NSS) (see http://www.nss.gc.ca for more information) and the Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SARVAC) (see www.sarvac.ca for more information). There were two parts to the conference: part one was the "Train the Trainer" workshop for the AdventureSmart Programs (see www.adventuresmart.ca for more information) and part two was a Volunteer Sustainability Town Hall. In part one, the need for a National Search and Rescue Prevention Strategy was presented. The National Prevention Strategy is supported by the Federal Government through the NSS. Additional endorsement from SARVAC and the provincial SAR groups will ensure the program is delivered. As a result of the need to reduce SAR incidents through preventative measures, the National Strategy has adopted the AdventureSmart programs. AdventureSmart originated in British Columbia in response to a 130% increase in SAR events over a 15 year period. Sessions were held for each of the following AdventureSmart Programs; Hug A Tree; Survive Outside; and Snow Safety Education. There were train-the-trainer sessions and the expectation is that each of the delegates will train a team of members who can deliver these programs in the community. The delegates from Alberta met while in Toronto, and have agreed to provide a unified roll-out for these programs in this province. Information regarding this, as well as opportunities for our members to take this training will be forthcoming. The president of SARVAC, Harry Blackmore, talked about the need for a national identity for SAR groups. SARVAC is working with the NSS and provincial organizations to create such an identity and recognition of a national affiliation. Part Two, the Volunteer Sustainability Town Hall consisted of a large group meeting with the president of Volunteer Canada (see http://volunteer.ca for more information) and SARVAC. Based on data collected from SAR groups across Canada, a profile of SAR volunteers was presented. In addition to the anecdotal information, the following data is interesting: National Size of team (number of members)..............48 Average Age (in years).................................40 Per cent male...............................................74 Per cent of groups rural................................76 Urban..............................................................3 Both..............................................................19 Enough volunteers - ........................yes.......69% Right kind of volunteers - .................No Need fundraisers, trainers, outreach.............64% Number of hours per volunteer............Increasing Turnover rate.......................................Increasing Actively Recruit - .............................yes.......74% Employer Support - .........................yes.......60% Solicit Employer support -................No........53% Will changes in number and type of volunteers affect your operations in the future - .........................................................yes........57% In general, the needs and issues of SAR groups are consistent across the county. According to Statistics Canada, 46% of Canadians volunteer and generate 8% of the GDP. Volunteerism is essential to building healthy and quality communities. General comments regarding volunteerism that came out in the meeting included: ? people are in a time famine ? volunteering shapes our character ? volunteers are asked to take on complex work and make huge time commitment ? life draws us away from volunteering ? some considerations * one size doesn't fit all * there are generational differences in why people volunteer * it would appear that 10% of the volunteers do about 52% of the work * part of volunteering should be to mentor younger volunteers * there is a general reluctance in volunteers to take on leadership roles Best regards, Norman Mathew ( 780-984-6855 ) normanmathew at xplornet.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20091114/440ea066/attachment.html From choare at shaw.ca Thu Dec 17 19:50:29 2009 From: choare at shaw.ca (Chris Hoare) Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:50:29 -0700 Subject: [SaraHap] SARA Happenings December 2009 Message-ID: <05A433597D404D408940B88CF9F7AACD@user978bb393cd> Hi All: SARA Happenings is issued to foster communication within the Search and Rescue community in Alberta. It is going to 226 e-mail addresses that are listed as the primary contact of SAR Alberta member groups or which were requested to be added to the mailing list. Subscription and unsubscription information is at the end of the newsletter. On Behalf of the SAR Alberta Executive, Board of Directors and Deputy Directors, we would like to wish all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year. President Monica Ahlstrom (Note: The Xmas song that Monica sent to be included could not be opened; the file was in .docx) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Happy Holidays It is that time of year when many reflect on the old year coming to an end and how we can all do better in the upcoming new year. The Search and Rescue community in Alberta should be very proud of the past year and their desire and commitment to help ours in time of need. On behalf of the RCMP in Alberta "Thank You" for being there and for your assistance. All the best of the holiday season and in 2010! Sgt. Mike Self and Cpl. Al Fraser -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALGARY SEARCH AND RESCUE REVIEW OF 2009 Calgary Search and Rescue started 2009 with the recruitment and training of 27 new members. The summer was initially fairly quiet with no searches, but we were involved with various public relations and fund raising events around the city: Canada Day festivities, the Stampede and the Lions' Golf Tournament. Suddenly, things got very busy, starting with the Rocky Mountain House missing person search in the heat of August, with thanks to Rocky SAR for calling us up there. We were then called in for evidence searches within the city. At one point we had 5 searches within 9 days. This year, our training team ran three All Members' Days, as a great way to combine administrative, training and social functions for the group. We also ran a mock search in Kananaskis in October which coincided with the first snow of the year. Guy Latour has trained a Rope Rescue team and congratulations to the 15 members who now form the CALSARA Rope Team. We also have an operational Bike Team. The new provincial insurance coverage is very welcome, and the consistent coverage across all SAR Alberta groups will make it easier to invite other SAR teams to our training events in the future. We are currently planning next year's recruitment program, and some preventative SAR events with "Hug a Tree and Survive" presentations at local schools. CALSARA is organizing a 24 hour run in the fall of 2010, something like an urban version of the Grande Cache Death Race, but hopefully with a name that is more fitting with the principles of Search and Rescue. So we'll keep you all posted and if you want to help out, or you want to enter a team, we look forward to hearing from you. Jim Wilson - Public Relations Coordinator, Calgary Search and Rescue Association pr-coordinator at calsara.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALLING ALL TRACKERSMichelle Hebert (UTS Sign-cutter) and Les Brace (Canadian Tracking Technologies) invite you to join us in a tracking exercise. We supply the location, scenario to work out, meeting room for briefing and debriefing, help for novice trackers and interested people, snacks and lunch. You supply tracking stick (some extra available), notepad and pencil, and enthusiasm. All trackers are welcome., Purpose: To get the tracking community together for practice and socializing. Where: Mulhurst Lutheran Camp, www.mulhurstlutherancamp.ca When: April 17th, 2010, 9:00am to 5:00pm Note: (hours for this practice can be claimed as UTS tracking hours) If you are interested in coming or have any questions, please contact Michelle. mhebert at airsurfer.ca 780-445-9022 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNDRAISING CONSULTANT SAR Alberta received a grant this year to hire a consultant to help develop the financial capacity and strategic direction of the organization. Interviews for the position were held in November and Tamara Alexander was offered the five month contract position. Along with working to raise funds for SAR Alberta Tamara will also be working on a toolkit to help teams with their fundraising efforts. Tamara Alexander - Bio Tamara has been professional in fund development and nonprofit management for almost 20 years. In that time she has held senior positions with non-profit organizations that range in size from a one person shop to large hospital foundation. She has stewarded donor programs from those just starting out, to those receiving over $10m annually in revenue. Tamara brings experience in building and stewarding major gifts programs, cultivating corporate support, grant writing, planned giving strategies, managing large and complex annual giving programs, DRTV, direct mail internet communications and building monthly donor programs. Her area of specialty is building broad based, grass roots community support through direct response vehicles. In her most recent position Tamara was the Senior Strategist with Touchworks Communications, a Calgary based company that provided consulting to the non-profit sector on direct response, communication, monthly donor files, donor database analysis and strategic planning. Accredited as a Certified Fundraising Professional (CFRE) in 1994, Tamara was one of the first development professionals in Canada to receive professional certification. Believing strongly in volunteerism, she sits on the board of several non-profits as well as volunteering on the front lines in both a personal and professional capacity. Some of the many organizations Tamara has worked with in either a professional or volunteer capacity include the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), Calgary Zoo, Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, Edmonton Mustard Seed, Calgary Humane Society, Cochrane Humane Society, Boys and Girls Clubs, Scouts Canada - Chinook Council, Calgary and Area United Way, Variety Club, Toronto Humane Society and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Foundation. On the personal side Tamara's interests include travel, wildlife photography, skiing, hiking and spending time in her garden. Activities Tamara has joined the SAR Alberta team bringing her expertise in a broad range of fund development programs to help build financial capacity and allow SAR Alberta to take the next step in its organizational development. Over the next 5 months, Tamara will be creating both a short term and a long term fund development strategy that will begin to build a diverse donorbase of individuals, businesses, foundations, service clubs and other interested organizations in order to build a sustainable funding base. Other projects that Tamara will take on are to help re-develop the current website to one that is user friendly, information driven, and helpful to both current SAR volunteers and the community. As well, Tamara will be developing a tool-kit to help SAR volunteer teams who are fundraising in their own communities. Submitted by Monica Ahlstrom, mavada at cruzinternet.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DONATION FOR HINTON SAR On November 25 Glenn Cook Area 4 Operations Leader for Conoco Phillips presented HSAR with a cheque for $5,000 in recognition and support of their service to the general public. The funds were used to procure all weather jackets for HSAR members. From left to right the attached picture (courtesy The Hinton Voice) shows Marc Symbaluk President HSAR, Glen Cook and Rob Lehne of Conoco Phillips and Ed Geoffrey Comms Director HSAR holding one of the new jackets. (Note: This insertion is something of a test, since recipients of the newsletter use just about every e-mail program known to man (and women and nerds). If you see the copy of the picture - good for you - if you have a blank or some annoying image obliterating part of the newsletter, please let the editor know, and he won't do it again.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEARCH AND RESCUE GROUPS TEST SKILLS By Stacy O'Brien - Red Deer Advocate Published: November 16, 2009 6:29 AM Updated: November 16, 2009 8:58 AM A cracked lower leg bone protruded through Ron Morrison's khaki pants and blood-red stains spilled around the slash in his slacks. From the look of the wound you'd expect Morrison would be screaming in agony, but he was all smiles on Saturday. The gruesome wound was merely stage make-up, created to help test the skills of nine volunteers for Red Deer and Didsbury Search and Rescue groups this past Saturday at Heritage Ranch in Red Deer. The testing was the culmination of an 80-hour course of basic skills training that every search and rescue person must undergo. Tyler Landon, of Red Deer, decided to take the course because he wanted to start volunteering and he wants to be a firefighter in the future. "It's a good way to get experience and help out," said the 20-year-old. He plans to train as a firefighter in British Columbia in January. "I like the outdoors. I haven't done a ton of it before so it's a good way to gain knowledge about it." During Saturday's test, the new search and rescue volunteers had to start a fire from scratch in 15 minutes, hike three kilometres, have 10 critical items in their packs, build a shelter, give first aid, navigate, search for evidence in a field and finally - once nighfall hit - search for someone in the woods. The activities started at around 1 p.m. and continued into the evening. "I think I should be OK as long as I didn't forget too much stuff," said Landon, early in the day. The activities felt a little like watching the television show Survivorman up close. "We like to challenge them," said Randi Butler, logistics manager for Red Deer Search and Rescue. She said the challenge for the new volunteers is for them to remember what they've learned and not get nervous. Organizers had the site set up as any search operation would be, with the Red Deer Search and Rescue's command post on site. The command post, created out of a travel trailer, is set up with wall-to-wall whiteboard space and high-tech computer equipment that allows searchers to track on a digital map what areas have been searched through GPS. Red Deer Search and Rescue volunteers can print out profiles based on the kind of person who is lost to help them determine how to best use their resources in a search. For instance, a hunter from Alberta moves in a much different way through the woods then a child, someone with Alzheimer's or a person with developmental disabilities who is lost. Red Deer Search and Rescue volunteers help the RCMP search for people and evidence around 30 times a year, said Ric Henderson, one of the Red Deer Search and Rescue trainers. Henderson said the organization is always looking for new recruits. "It is like any volunteer organization, the more people the better," he said. For more information go to www.reddeersar.com . (Ed. Note: this submission came too late for last month's newsletter.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SARA HAPPENINGS SUBMISSIONS Our regular publication date for mailings of SARA Happenings is the middle of each month. Please note that the deadline for material is the 14th of each month. Does your group have an event posting for the SARA Happenings mailing? If so, please send information 1-1/2 months prior to the dates you wish advertised. It will then give ample time for those reading it to respond. Please send all material to the editor; Chris Hoare at choare at shaw.ca PLEASE DO include contact information for members to gain further information. To subscribe or unsubscribe visit http://castrov.dyndns.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sara-happenings enter your e-mail address and click on "Edit Options". Automatic subscribers will need to click on "EMail My Password to Me". You can subscribe and unsubscribe on the same page. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20091217/ea0f5ee8/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 634860 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://castrov.dyndns.org/pipermail/sara-happenings/attachments/20091217/ea0f5ee8/attachment.jpeg