Members of the land-based search and rescue steering committee Gord Harrison (left), Zack Crafts, Jordan Pennington, Olivia Ostrom, Katarina Smith and Rob Lockhart want to create a formal search and rescue group through the Ontario Search and Rescue Volunteer Association. Oct. 3, 2019 - Stephannie Johnson/Torstar
PARRY SOUND — In the near future, if you or someone you love is lost in a vast Parry Sound wooded area, a formal volunteer search and rescue team will be there to help.
Seeing a need, Carling fire department Chief Gord Harrison brought together a group of like-minded individuals to work on bringing a land-based search and rescue team to the region through the Ontario Search and Rescue Volunteer Association.
The closest teams, Harrison said, are in West Nipissing and Espanola areas.
The Ontario Search and Rescue Volunteer Association operates with the permission of the police.
“This organization assists the OPP when (the OPP) sees the need for it. We operate under their jurisdiction,” Harrison said. “Really, what it’s for is if somebody gets lost. Normally, it’s out in the wilderness, and you need people trained in search techniques to go out and find them — this group knows the best way to go about it.”
With seven area municipalities with more forest than asphalt, Harrison said, it was odd the region doesn’t have an official search and rescue group.
“It’s not a good situation. In the past, volunteers and members of the fire department have been called out to assist at times, and that’s great, but it will work so much better to have a group that is trained in this specific aspect, to go about things,” he said.
Harrison said that, in the past, there were a couple of incidences when firefighters have been called to help locate lost individuals.
“And I thought, 'If we actually had a team, this would make things so much better. Especially people trained — that would be ideal.' It just came from recognizing there was a hole,” he said.
The steering committee is hoping to gather between 30 and 50 people from a variety of backgrounds and expertise.
“We’re getting a lot of responses from the sort of adventure-wilderness community, people that just enjoy camping and just being out in the woods. That’s been great. We’re looking for all sorts of people: hunters, fishermen — people who spend a lot of time in the woods. Local knowledge is really important,” he said.
The goal is to have volunteers from as far north as Henvey Inlet First Nation, as far south as MacTier and as far east as Sprucedale, Whitestone and Magnetawan.
All volunteers will receive three-day training through the Ontario Search and Rescue Volunteer Association. An annual training scenario will also take place as an opportunity to keep volunteers' skills up to date.
“We’ll do all the training. You just need a willingness to do it and understand that if you’re called out you may have to be in the woods for eight to 10 hours or more. We thought, if we had between 30 and 50 people trained when the call went out for the team, that we would be able to send 15 people out of that 30 to 50, that would be available and understand that these may be multi-day events,” he said.
Local elementary-school teacher and outdoor enthusiast Zack Crafts is interested in being a part of the group for a very personal reason.
“My father has dementia, and it isn’t easy for my mother, as his caregiver, with his condition,” he said. “I would like to think that, much like raising children, it takes a village to protect and respect our seniors, and one of the ways to do that is have teams in place in case that someone becomes lost.”
Crafts said he’s hopeful that a formal search and rescue team can bring the community as a whole closer, including the many area First Nations and rural townships.
“When you think of the area which is West Parry Sound, we have so much interesting and varied terrain. If we are to do a good job in the gathering of a team, all areas will be represented, as it will be local knowledge which will often be the difference in understanding where to search and how to search. I am also very helpful that the volunteer base will have the skill sets of not only medical backgrounds — first responders, nurses (and) doctors — but also outdoor sport enthusiasts, hunters and fishers with navigation and bush skills. This will be a really exciting group of people to work and learn with.”
For more information on the Ontario Search and Rescue Volunteer Association or to become a part of the local team, an information session takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at Canadore College’s West Parry Sound Campus, from 7 to 8 p.m.
Those unable to make the event can email or call Gord Harrison at 705-342-5856, ext. 430, or gharrison@carling.ca.
Link to original article on ParrySound.com: Lost in Parry Sound woods? Carling fire chief sees need for volunteer search team