The motto of the SAR-1 program is “so that others may live.”
True to their mission, the program recently provided intensive training to a group of future team leaders in the Rainy River District, developing expertise and a search and rescue team for the Treaty 3 territory and neighbouring communities in case of emergencies.
On December 15 at Shooniyaa Wa-Biitong in Fort Frances, 12 individuals from a variety of backgrounds received certificates for the completion of SAR-1 training.
Jamie Stirling, SAR-1 lead instructor, said the graduates were inquisitive and asked great questions along the way. Each course is tailored to meet the needs of the group with built in scenarios, and includes both classroom and boots to the ground field training. Students often trained early in the morning to learn how to navigate in the dark.
“The professionalism that they display will no doubt be reflected in the operations in the future,” he said.
Students learned about the technical capabilities of GPS units, search and rescue vests, headlamps, compasses, maps, basic navigation skills, and how to get from A to B simply using a compass and counting paces.
“We get comfortable out there working in that environment in understanding the nuances with it,” Stirling said. “We’re looking at things like footprints—we learned that we should follow the clues, and not the actual person—so footprints will lead us to that lost person. And working together with partners out there and other teams, we’re able to cover a lot of property very fast.”
Stirling also emphasized the importance of the training by noting that those who complete the course are able to integrate with other units within the province, whether it is the Ontario Provincial Police, Treaty Three Police, or other SAR teams from different districts.
Furthermore, the program teaches students the value of taking notes and describing their search, to capture information that will assist police investigations.
SAR-1 instructors also included Grant Ayres, retired OPP Sergeant; Brian Smit, retired Toronto Police Service Sergeant; and Shaun Spence, Peguis First Nation.
Initial conversations on the SAR-1 program began in June earlier this year between Kai Liu, executive director of the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (IPCO) and retired Chief of Police for Treaty Three Police Service, and Tyler Yatchuk, emergency management coordinator for Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services.
At the program completion ceremony, Yatchuk thanked the students for coming out to the two-week program.
Liu, who joined the meeting virtually, also congratulated the class—especially those without prior police training.
“For the police officers, they’re used to responding to emergencies and tragic events on a daily basis. But for the community members from a variety of other first responders and community members, congratulations on the training,” he said.
Giving an example of the life-saving impact of the SAR-1 training, Liu noted that four weeks ago, a tragic incident occurred not long after training was completed in Port Alberni.
Two individuals went missing during a snowmobiling trip. One had died from a snowmobile injury, however the other was brought to a hospital and survived, he said.
“That search, from my understanding, started before the OPP had arrived. And this was quite important,” Liu said. “They were able to use their skills right away.”
Although Liu hopes the current class will never need to use their training, he noted that it is more realistic to say they will one day.
Sergeant James Broughton from Treaty Three Police congratulated the class and thanked Indigenous Services Canada for helping fund the program.
“I can tell you firsthand from experience that finding somebody alive and bringing them back to their loved ones is one of the best feelings that you’ll ever have in policing and emergency services,” Broughton said. “You all play a very important role and when calls like this come in.”
Broughton also noted the value of having community members who are familiar with the area on search and rescue teams.
From the recent cohort, several members who completed the SAR training came from a variety of backgrounds such as Treaty Three Police, Northwest Bay First Nations, Alberton Fire Department, Couchiching First Nation, and more.
Norman Roy, manager emergency management for Indigenous Services Canada, said he hoped that some candidates would become trainers themselves and share their knowledge to the youth in their respective communities.
“What my vision is, is not only training and building capacity within communities, but also helping another community in crisis,” he said. “I see leaders, and we need to build our capacity to youth… and to get them engaged.”
On the first day of training, Stirling told each of the students that the certificate must be earned, and that it would not be easy. By the end of the course, graduates had a deep sense of pride and understanding of the value of what they have learned.
Stirling thanked each of them for their passion and for the sense of community cultivated in a short time.
“It’s very nice when we come to communities and you make us feel like we’re at home,” Stirling said. “Each of you told us a little bit about your history and also shared with us stories, brought us gifts, brought us jars of honey and different things that made us feel welcome.”
“To know that I could give any one of you a call and you’d welcome me as one of your own—as we would to you— thank you very much for that.”
