Skies Busy Next Week

North Bay skies will see an unusual amount of activity next week as military Search and Rescue (SAR) personnel take part in a training exercise.

Full details are contained in the media release below.

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The skies around North Bay, Ontario will be busier than usual during the week of September 25th as Search and Rescue (SAR) assets from across the Canadian Forces converge at the local airport for the annual National Search and Rescue Exercise, dubbed SAREX.

The goal of National SAREX is to facilitate liaison between SAR units and to provide a venue for the standardization and evaluation of operational SAR techniques and procedures. This event will also provide an excellent venue for showcasing the skills and abilities of the Canadian Forces SAR units to the public as both the public and the press are invited to attend the exercise.

Participating SAR squadrons include, 435 Transport and Rescue (T&R) Squadron, 17 Wing/CFB Winnipeg, 442 (T&R) Squadron, 19 Wing/CFB Comox, B.C., 413 (T&R) Squadron, 14 Wing/CFB Greenwood, N.S., 103 Rescue Squadron, 9 Wing/CFB Gander and 424 (T&R) Squadron the organizing unit from 8 Wing/CFB Trenton, ON. Three Combat Support Squadron (CSS) will also participate, including, 417 CSS, 4 Wing/CFB Cold Lake, AL, 439 CSS, 3 Wing Bagotville, PC and 444 CSS, 5 Wing/CFB Goose Bay, Nfld and Labrador. Teams from Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) will also participate in this year’s National SAREX.

SAREX events:

Parachuting Accuracy Event:
Canadian Forces Search and Rescue technicians are trained to jump in to all types of terrain for rescue missions, including forested areas. As such, they require great skill to guide their parachute to the best possible landing spot. The Precision Parachute competition provides competitors with up to 5 parachute jumps each from 2500 ft AGL, in which they must guide themselves as accurately as possible to the center of the para drop zone where a target is placed. The SAR techs are scored cumulatively on how close they come to the center of the drop zone by counting penalty meters for all their jumps; hence, the higher the score, the farther from the center and the worse the result. Each SAREX team will have a team score tabulated, in addition, for the team parachute award.

Medical Event:
Each team, consisting of three SAR techs, shall be assessed on their ability to efficiently and effectively triage, evaluate, and treat three survivors at a mock-up aircraft crash site and then evacuate the most appropriate casualty, within a 45-minute timeframe. They will be judged on all aspects of the medical procedures including the decision of which casualty should be evacuated first.

Search Event:
The search event simulates conditions that are faced when SAR aircraft must search for something such as a missing aircraft. A series of about 10 search items (i.e. ground signal markers, parachute, ELT) are placed along a pre-determined route. The search route this year is located to the Northwest of North Bay, ON and is approximately 165 kilometres long. The aircraft crews are given a tasking including the exact route to be flown and to search for as many items as they can find. Each crew is scored based on several key factors in the event including the pre-flight briefing, time to be airborne (must be less than 30 min), number of targets they spot and the accuracy with which they pinpoint the targets on a map.

Rescue Event:
The rescue event simulates the actions of a SAR aircraft (fixed-wing) upon finding survivors at a simulated crash site. The event involves low-level (150ft and 300ft) para-drops of message bundles, medical equipment and a confined area parachute landing of SAR techs from 2500 ft. The aircraft will then drop a supply bundle to the SAR techs on the ground. Each aircraft crew will be scored on how accurate the equipment and live drops are to a designated target in the center of the Rescue Event drop zone, and whether the sequence is completed in the allotted time.

Ground Search Event:
This is a new event for this year’s SAREX and was created to help facilitate sharing of knowledge and communication between different SAR organizations. CASARA, Local Police, OPP and military members team up to run through a gamut of Ground based SAR tasks. Each team will home an electronic SAR beacon, navigate by GPS, search a forested area, apply Emergency First Aid to a victim and finally transport the victim to safety.

Helicopter Accuracy Event:
This event allows a helicopter crew to show their precision as a team. The pilots must coordinator with their Flight Engineer (hoist operator) to accurately manoeuvre the hoist hook through a series of challenges. Finally the pilots must land precisely on a pre-determined spot.

Maintenance:
Each aircraft will have a maintenance crew working with it during the week of SAREX. Each team will be responsible for towing, refuelling, and all the daily aircraft inspections and paperwork to keep the maintenance logs up to date. There will also be a maintenance scenario involving a simulated snag on the aircraft, in which the crew has to troubleshoot and come up with a solution based on their knowledge of the aircraft systems. Overall the maintenance teams are scored on their maintenance procedures, safety, accuracy in record keeping, and any other items that they are required to deal with.


Bell Ringer (over 40 precision parachuting):
A precision parachute event for the more experienced SAR techs, all over 40 years of age. The event consists of one jump to the precision parachute-landing zone, where a bell will be placed adjacent to the target. The SAR tech with the fastest time from landing to ringing the bell while carrying all parachute equipment will be the winner. Landing on the bell is not allowed.


Canadian Forces (CF) and SAR:
Canada has a long and proud tradition of rendering assistance in the form of SAR for both civilians and the military. In fact, we have conducted SAR missions for more than 50 years. Throughout history, our Air Force SAR crews have won countless awards for heroism, including Canada’s highest honour, the Cross of Valour.

With a combined responsibility of 15,540,000 square kilometres (Canada's landmass, territorial waters and mid-ocean sections of the Atlantic and Pacific) and the challenges of terrain and climate, SAR in Canada is a demanding and daunting task. In Canada, more than 750 Canadian Forces members are dedicated to SAR.

The aircrew flies the SAR techs to the scene of disaster, conducts search patterns while SAR techs act as spotters, and then the aircrew manoeuvres the aircraft for parachute or hoist operations. Ground crew technicians keep the SAR aircraft in top condition, often working in remote locations under extreme environmental conditions. It is the Air Controllers from one of the three Joint Rescue Coordination Centres located in Victoria, Trenton, and Halifax who coordinate the search, manage the available resources and dispatch rescuers to the scene.

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