[SARA-Members] President's Report 2009-2010

[Monica Ahlstrom]

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> SAR Alberta
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> President’s Report 2009 – 2010 
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> The 2009-2010 season for SAR Alberta was a very productive and busy year for the organization. A number of major initiatives were dealt with including the development of a strategic plan, insurance and liability protection for members, adoption of some key standards, and a provincial wide exercise. The association hired a fundraising coordinator and worked with SARVAC to implement the Adventure Smart program across the province and wrote and submitted a NIF proposal for a three-year recruitment and retention program for search and rescue. As SAR Alberta starts into a new board year it will do so with a new website, legislation in place to protect volunteers, insurance for all teams, an implemented fundraising plan and a strong working relationship with the RCMP and AEMA. It was a productive year.
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> Thanks to all who offered support and help throughout the year to make it such a success, your efforts are greatly appreciated.
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> Strategic Plan
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> Following input from the membership at last year’s AGM and another session with the board of directors, consultant Les Brost completed SAR Alberta’s Strategic plan.
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> The Key Function Areas identified were:
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> Ø  Funding
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> Ø  Certification and Training
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> Ø  Communications
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> Ø  Governance
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> Ø  Volunteer Support
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> Funding – key accomplishments
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> -       hiring of a professional fundraiser, Tamara Alexander, who developed a fundraising plan and has begun implementation of that plan – corporate and foundation sponsorship part of overall plan. Fundraiser was hired through a special grant through AEMA. Though the program ended March 31, Tamara has offered to stay on as a volunteer to see the program through. Part of the program is to be a toolkit for teams to help them with fundraising efforts.
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> -       training grants – committee has been formed, and process for fundraising applications has been streamlined and simplified in conjunction with AEMA
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> -       NIF – a three year federal New Initiatives Fund project was put forward by SAR Alberta to support recruitment and retention in the province – the status of the NIF is not known at this time as it is still going through the federal process
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> -       Donation to Adventure Smart – the Adventure Smart program received a $4500 donation from Cooperators Insurance in Calgary which included a larger donation to Calgary SAR. The proceeds were from a golf tournament held by the Insurance company.
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> -       Numerous smaller donations were received from individuals
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> Certification and Training – key accomplishments
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> -       SAR Alberta adopted a number of standards including those for boating, ATV use, and snowmobiles. The telecommunications standard was also adopted
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> -       SAR Alberta is working with AEMA and the FESTI committee – which is reviewing all standards, certifications and accreditation process for all emergency services across the province. The first draft of the FESTI report came out in March and SAR Alberta was invited to comment and give input. The FESTI process will include the opportunity for further input from SAR Alberta, teams and individuals.
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> -       The Standards Committee was re-organized with Al Tomalty now taking on the duty of Chair.
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> -       A provincial wide exercise was sponsored by Rocky Mountain House Volunteer SAR – there was excellent participation by teams across the province and it was a valuable learning exercise.
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> Communications  - key accomplishments
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> -       SAR Alberta has developed a new website which will be online by the AGM
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> -       The President and Vice-President met on two occasions with the Minister of Municipal Affairs to discuss the insurance issue – Harry Blackmore President of the Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada was present at the second meeting to discuss the Algoma insurance policy
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> -       Fire Commissioner and Executive Director Trent West has become the liaison for AEMA with SAR Alberta. Trent has moved a number of initiatives forward and strong working relationship has been developed. Thanks to this strengthened relationship progress is now being made on a number of issues.
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> -       The newsletter has continued to go out on a regular bases thanks to the efforts of Chris Hoare
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> -       Rodney Dietrich worked to compile the statistics for SAR in Alberta – completing the stats for 2008 and continuing to press groups for their stats for 2009. The stats have proved extremely important in our fundraising and government relation efforts.
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> -       Numerous radio, television and newspaper interviews were given over the year – most in response to the Golden incident and insurance issues
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> -       AEMA is looking for Search and Rescue articles and input to the redesigned ON SCENE newsletter that goes out from that department
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> -       A letter was sent to all the MLA’s and Ministers in the province explaining search and rescue and the roll we play in Alberta.
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> -       Ten new individuals were trained in the Adventure Smart program during a training session in Toronto in October. A committee has been formed and further training is being carried out in Alberta. A plan on how to roll the program out in Alberta has been developed and implementation has began. Carianne Budalich from Grande Prairie SAR is coordinating this initiative.
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> -       An external communication plan has been discussed as part of the fundraising initiative – the website is also an important part of this initiative
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> Governance
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> -       Positions on the SAR Alberta board still need to be filled – it will be particularly important for teams and regions to have representation over the next few years as the roles of SAR Alberta shift in light of the new relationship with AEMA
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> -       SAR Alberta still needs to review its bylaws – this will be important in the coming year as the role of the association evolves
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> -       A working committee is being established that will work closely with AEMA on key strategies and directions for search and rescue in Alberta in the future.
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> Volunteer Support
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> -       Legislation and insurance are both going to be put in place to give legal protection to volunteers. The insurance is being covered until September 2011, to allow time for a national initiative to be fully explored.
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> -       The Adventure Smart program was implemented in Alberta through the SARVAC training initiative
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> -       The process for identity cards still needs to be streamlined and made more efficient for teams
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> Insurance and Legislation
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> In March the Alberta Government made amendments to the Emergency Management Act through Bill 6. Part of those amendments included the addition of a section on protection for search and rescue volunteers. AEMA and SAR Alberta are working together on the implementation of this legislation.
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> A special conditional grant has been given to SAR Alberta to secure insurance for teams until September 2011. The reason for this date was to allow for a federal option to be fully explored. Teams requiring the Algoma insurance will need to have a budget prepared and will be required to enter into agreement with the Minister. All teams in Alberta are encouraged to have insurance and this will become a requirement in order to be tasked. SAR Alberta understands there are teams who have insurance in place and have arrangements with their municipality that they would like to maintain, that is fine, the key is that all teams now have access to paid insurance.
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> Challenges
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> While many accomplishments were made over the last year SAR Alberta does have ongoing challenges that will need to be worked on. How the organization administers its affairs and is funded to do so is probably one of the key issues as it moves forward in its new role with AEMA and the Alberta Government. The organization has already out grown its capacity to function strictly as a volunteer organization – and lack of funding and administrative support in the past have severely hampered the organizations ability to be effective and to make progress. Ongoing funding and a re-evaluation of SAR Alberta’s role will be crucial as the organization moves forward. Below are some of those key issues and challenges:
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> Administration
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> -       increased record keeping – accreditation and certification of members
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> -       need for stats
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> -       data bases for teams – SAR Alberta
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> -       standards = more regulation
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> Recruitment and Retention
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> -       age of volunteers – teams are getting older – younger people simply are not volunteering (for anything)
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> -       more hassle with standardization, accreditation etc. – additional administration may result in a further lack of interest or people dropping out due to the perceived hassle
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> Shifting of Roles – lack of searches
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> -       Wilderness/urban search and rescue function  - diminishing due to increased use of GPS, cell phones etc – teams becoming less used and experience – affecting recruitment and retention
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> -       Civil Emergency Response (major connection into Emergency response and AEMA) – program in serious need of revamp
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> -       Evidence searches  - becoming a staple for the larger urban teams – however, no provincial wide training course or standard practice identified
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