Our Mandate

The mandate of Halifax Regional Search and Rescue is to locate and rescue lost persons within our jurisdiction, in the best possible condition. However, Halifax Regional Search and Rescue serves the community in many other ways, including evidence searches with local police authorities, wilderness survival and education sessions for children and adults, evacuations and other civil emergency responses in cooperation with the Emergency Measures Organization (Nova Scotia and Halifax Regional Municipality).

Many of the lost subjects we search for are children. Knowing that if we could reach children at an early age and teach them basic survival skills, we could dramatically improve their chances for survival and their probability of being found should they become lost, Halifax Regional Search and Rescue introduced the Children's Woods-proofing program. Team members travel to elementary schools, as well as Cub and Brownie groups, teaching the woods-proofing course. A film is shown, and with the aid of a simple book and lively discussion, the children learn the basics of woods survival.

The Halifax Regional Search & Rescue Team is a non-profit, volunteer organization. The Team is registered as a charity with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.  The Team receives a small Provincial grant each year to support its operations.  While this grant assists operations, over 95% of the Team's operations are funded by the community through local fund raising activities and a small grant from Halifax Regional Municipality.

 

 

History

The seeds of Halifax Regional Search and Rescue are sown ...

In the winter of 1969, two young children, a brother and sister, became lost in the woods of Nova Scotia. News spread quickly of their plight and very quickly friends, neighbours, police officers, firefighters - even complete strangers - were soon searching the snowy woods for the missing children. In the winter of 1969 a team of trained Search and Rescue First Response Team did not exist in the local community, only a community of local volunteers with a desire to help two lost children. Despite the searchers being unorganized and ill-equipped, the two children were found by searchers.  

Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of police and volunteers, the little girl died of exposure to the harsh winter conditions. The tragedy was exacerbated with the death of a volunteer searcher also as result of the harsh winter weather. A death in a community is always hard to take, but even more so when it is that of a child. The volunteers involved with the search and the local community took the loss of these two lives hard. Out of this anguish grew a determination to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Three men in particular; Bill Lockhart, Ken Oakes, and Dick MacDonald, with the assistance of the Emergency Measures Organization of Nova Scotia, [EMO (Nova Scotia)] formed the Waverley Ground Search and Rescue Team.

Using the Waverley Volunteer Fire Department hall as a base of operations, the men began to organize and train other volunteers to search for lost people in the woods of Nova Scotia. Equally important, they trained searchers how to take care of themselves in the woods.

 

 

Tragedy often precipitates change. In the summer of 1986 another child, nine-year old Andrew Warburton, became lost in the woods outside Halifax. Andy and his family from Ontario were visiting friends and family in Nova Scotia. Within hours a search was begun for young Andy that would come to included more than 5,000 volunteers combing the woods, making it the largest ground search in Canadian history. Despite a large scale effort, his discovery was too late and young Andy Warburton died in the woods. The Team came to understand some of the shortcomings of the Nova Scotia Ground Search & Rescue program when it became necessary to effectively conduct a large, multi-team, technically difficult search. Clearly, changes were required in order to elevate the level of service that the Provincial program was delivering.

Shortly after the Warburton search, Ron Marlow, the Team's training officer, introduced the concepts of Search Management to the Team, based upon a curriculum developed by the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR). This initial introduction to Search Management, combined with a visit to the Team from two NASAR instructors in 1987, was the impetus for Team members to seek out training which would forever change how search and rescue operations would be undertaken by the Team. In 1988, Ken Hill and Mike MacKenzie took the initiative to bring Jim O'Brien, then Education Officer for NASAR, to Nova Scotia to conduct a, "Managing the Search Function," workshop. Ken and Mike brought the proposal to bring a NASAR instructor to the Team where the response was mixed; old-guard feet-dragging versus new-guard enthusiasm. Don Bower took over the difficult chore of chairing a committee that would select students for the main course, as well as those who would attend the instructor's course. The RCMP paid for the course and sent three members to attend; Jim Couse, Everett Densmore, and Archie Mason.

As a result of this training, and a commitment to Search and Rescue, instructors from the Team have trained and certified, through NASAR, search management personnel throughout North America. Of particular note were the efforts of Ken Hill who wrote and edited NASAR's updated search Management program entitled, Managing the Lost Person Incident (MLPI). Ken also became a faculty instructor for NASAR, teaching the course and certifying instructors throughout North America, including at least 20 States. The publishing of this internationally recognized training manual, combined with ongoing research and training, represents a lasting tribute to the memory of Andrew Warburton. Currently two members of Halifax Regional Search and Rescue are authorized to teach the MLPI Instructor ("Train the Trainer") course. With the amalgamation of the Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996, Waverley Ground Search & Rescue became Halifax Regional Search & Rescue. From its humble beginnings at the Waverley Volunteer Fire Department Hall in 1972, to the present training centre at 116 Lakeview Road, near Lower Sackville, Halifax Regional Search and Rescue has helped save many lives, and educate over 50,000 children and adults in woods survival skills.

 

 

   

On September 3, 1998 at 0700 hours Halifax Regional Search and Rescue undertook the largest Mutual Aid Search operation in Nova Scotia's history. With the crash of Swiss Air Flight 111 within Halifax Regional Search and Rescue's zone of responsibility, it was charged with primary responsibility for all ground operations including military operations and other ground SAR teams.
 

On November 5, 1998, 64 days later, the hard working volunteers had contributed 48,780 hours with 3,141 person days.

Training

Halifax Search & Rescue is a community volunteer organization committed to saving lives. This goal is achieved through intense training in map and compass, wilderness navigation (day and night), wilderness survival, first aid and wilderness medical first responder training , global positioning satellite (GPS) use, knots, search techniques, human tracking, ice safety and various search management courses. Halifax Regional Search and Rescue's training program runs every Monday night starting at 1900 hours at its base facility at 116 Lakeview Road. The training calendar is a mixture of classroom work and field practice.

"The more we train - the luckier we get."

New members will progress through a series of core modules building skills in wilderness survival, navigation and advanced search techniques. All training is free - members are asked to pay a nominal fee for learning materials they wish to keep. Training begins with basic survival in a wilderness setting and wilderness navigation. Further training will focus on clue awareness, first aid and many other skills necessary for search and rescue responders.  Members of Halifax Regional Search and Rescue will pass through the four core modules in sequential order. These core modules provided to team members with HRSAR are listed below. In order to progress to the next level the previous level must be completed.

• 
• Map and Compass - The first core module course for new volunteers to take
• Woodslore - basic survival skills and basic wilderness navigation
• Searcher - wilderness navigation, search methods and clue awareness
• Advanced Searcher - advanced wilderness navigation, clue awareness and first aid
• Team Leader - tactical management of searcher units in the field with an introduction to search management
  
  Members interested in the managing the search function may take Search Management training. In this multi day program, future search managers learn how to manage scarce resources to obtain the best outcome possible in lost person emergencies.

 

 

 

 

Membership

 

 

	The minimum age to join Halifax Regional Search and Rescue is 19 years of age.  There are presently over 130 members on the Halifax Regional Search and Rescue Team.
	Your commitment to rescue lost individuals is rewarded by membership in one of the best accredited rescue organisations in Canada.
	Our instructors and senior team members will introduce you to our modern rescue equipment.
	Take advantage of  navigation workshops, outdoor training and introduction to first aid. Members are eligible for further first aid certification at very reasonable rates.
	Interested?     We invite you to one of our Monday night meetings, usually at 7pm. You will find our address and driving instructions under 'Contact us'.   Drop by and and say 'Hello'!     Please consult our 'Activity Calendar' to check the most recent training schedule.

Team members are not compensated for lost wages, vacation time, or time off from work. All funds raised by the team go to cover operating and maintenance expenses.

Contact us

	Headquarter (Base) 116 Lakeview Road Lakeview NS B4C 4C7 Canada (902) 860 1638 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Emergencies - 911
Find Us!

 

 

Board Members
John Matheson Chief Director This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it	Dave Eisan Assistant Chief Director This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Linda Matheson Secretary This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
David George Administrative Director This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it	Lynne Fielder Woods Safety (hug-a-tree) This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Craig Potter Internal Training This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it	Matt MacAdam Treasurer This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Blair Doyle Search Director This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it	Mike Murray Assistant Search Director This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tony Rodgers Media and Public Relations This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it	Kelvin King Eco-Endurance Challenge Director This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Webmaster
David Lewis This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it