1 Saskatoon Search and Rescue Activations, Exercises, Media

Saskatoon Search and Rescue Activations, Exercises, Media This document is a list of major activations and training exercises that Saskatoon Search and Rescue has been involved with in recent years as well as some examples of the accompanying media. Missing Persons •
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August 2014 – activated by RCMP to search for missing 6-­‐year-­‐old boy at Sucker River (north of La Ronge) August 2014 – activated by RCMP to search for missing 89-­‐year-­‐old female north of Meadow Lake July 2014 – activated by Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) to search for missing 6-­‐year-­‐old boy May 2014 – on standby with RCMP to search for missing 19-­‐year-­‐old autistic male near Readlyn (other SK SAR chapters activated) May 2014 – on standby with RCMP to search for missing 35-­‐year-­‐old male near Grenfell (other SK SAR chapters activated) May 2014 – activated by RCMP to search for missing 17-­‐year-­‐old male from Ochapowace First Nation May 2014 – activated by SPS and RCMP to search (2 days) for missing 80-­‐year-­‐old male with dementia just outside of Saskatoon near the Berry Barn May 2014 – activated by SPS to search for missing 15-­‐year-­‐old autistic boy April 2014 – on standby with RCMP to search for missing male near Tugaske (other SK SAR chapters activated) March 2014 – on standby with RCMP to search for missing 21-­‐year-­‐old male with special needs from Whitecap First Nation January 2014 – activated by SPS to search for missing 66-­‐year-­‐old female with mental health concerns November 2013 – activated by SPS to search for missing 57-­‐year-­‐old hearing impaired female October 2013 – activated by SPS to search for missing 10-­‐year-­‐old autistic girl August 2013 – activated by SPS to search for missing 6-­‐year-­‐old girl February and May 2012 – activated by SPS to search for a missing 23-­‐year-­‐old male along the South Saskatchewan River September 2011 – activated by RCMP to search for female missing from Whitecap First Nation February 2010 – activated by RCMP, along with other SK SAR chapters, to search for despondent subject near St. Louis Evidence Searches • June 2014 – activated by RCMP to assist with evidence search for human remains at Muskowekwan First Nation • June 2014 – activated by RCMP to assist with evidence search in homicide investigation, approx. 8 km outside of Saskatoon Emergency Measures • June 2013 – on standby for several days with Saskatoon Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) for possible flooding in Saskatoon • May 2013 – activated by Saskatoon EMO at the request of the Province to assist with sandbagging to prevent further damage in Borden, SK • July 2010 – on standby with Provincial EMO after tornado swept through Kawacatoose First Nation • July 2010 – on standby with Provincial EMO for cleanup assistance after widespread flooding in Yorkton • January 2009 – activated by Saskatoon EMO to assist Saskatoon Transit in notifying passengers of transit stoppage after major blizzard 1 Major Training Exercises •
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September 2014 – Two-­‐day rural search exercise with RCMP. September 2014 – Evidence Search Training, instructed by RCMP Sgt. Pete Garvey and Dr. Ernie Walker. May 2014 – Urban search exercise and Bike SAR course with Saskatoon Police Service. Both held in conjunction with National Emergency Preparedness Week and Provincial Missing Persons Week. October 2013 -­‐ Participated in “Exercise Domino” with Saskatoon Emergency Measures Organization, Saskatoon Police Service, RCMP, Saskatoon Fire Department and several other organizations in all-­‐hazards scenarios. Assisted with evacuations of seniors’ complexes and navigation for Task Forces. May 2013 – Urban search exercise in conjunction with Saskatoon Police Service within Greystone Heights (Saskatoon) for missing subjects. Involved urban search, rural areas, and door-­‐to-­‐door interviewing. May 2012 -­‐ Participated in a search scenario along the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon with four other SAR chapters, Royal Canadian Navy, Saskatoon Police Service, and Saskatoon Fire Department. May 2011 – Urban search scenario held within Holiday Park (Saskatoon) for missing subjects. Involved urban search and door-­‐to-­‐door interviewing. February 2010 -­‐ Participated in multiple-­‐casualty exercise in Nisbet Forest near MacDowall, SK, involving SARSAV chapters (Search And Rescue Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers), RCMP and Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA). Media – Missing Persons Teen found after walking for 16 hours BY JASON WARICK, THE STARPHOENIX MAY 12, 2014 8:33 AM Austin Carter went missing Friday afternoon. Police found him about 20 km away from his home. It was almost midnight and the temperature was dropping rapidly when police asked John Carter to call out for his missing son, Austin, on their loudspeaker. The 15-­‐year-­‐old autistic boy hadn’t been seen since leaving his Grosvenor-­‐area house 16 hours earlier. Based on a chance sighting by some fishermen, police and dozens of other searchers raced to an area of the riverbank north of the city. “Austin! Come on out. It’s okay. It’s dad,” Carter said. Police and volunteers had been searching all day Friday near the family home and Friday evening along the river nearly 20 kilometres away. 2 Police canine units, a video helicopter, a heat sensing machine and other gadgets were all employed. Firefighters were in a boat combing the river’s edge with spotlights. Roughly 20 trained volunteers from Saskatoon Search and Rescue walked along the shore and through the dark bush. After nearly half an hour of calling, Carter was told the heat sensors picked up a signal. He kept calling. Minutes later, a cold and wet Austin emerged. “He was pretty scratched up, but it was so good to see he was okay,” Carter recalled during an interview Sunday afternoon in the family’s living room. Austin was examined by emergency medical technicians on scene and sent home with his dad. When he arrived at his house, his relieved mother, Vicki gave him a bath, fed him some pizza and put him to bed. “I hope we never have to go through that again. This was a total shock,” she said. The family spent a relaxing Mother’s Day Sunday going for a swim at the Lakewood Civic Centre and watching movies at home. The Carters have talked at length with Austin, but he hasn’t grasped the magnitude of the events. “He doesn’t get just how dangerous this was,” John Carter said. Austin has never wandered away before, they said. The “bookworm” has hidden inside the house before, but nothing like this, they said. Thursday, however, he made some “bad choices” at his school, Walter Murray Collegiate, and didn’t want to return Friday. He didn’t get on his 8th Street bus. Instead, he walked to another intersection and caught a bus to the city’s north end. He then made his way to the river — police say some autistic people are drawn to water — and walked north along the bank. Just after 8 p.m., a pair of fishermen saw him and asked what he was doing. “They started asking too many questions, so he went on his merry way,” Vicki Carter said. The fishermen had no reason to detain the boy, so he kept walking. They were concerned enough, though, to speak with a Corman Park Police officer. The officer called up the Saskatoon police news release describing the boy’s disappearance, which had spread rapidly Friday through traditional and social media. They confirmed Austin’s identity and the entire search shifted. It would be several more hours before he was found. The Carters say they’ll always be grateful to the police and everyone who helped find their boy. “We were totally impressed with what the police did. Everybody was just awesome — totally outstanding,” John Carter said. The response from police, volunteers and the public was immediate and extraordinary, said Const. Ben White of the Saskatoon Police Service’s Public Safety Unit. The help of the Search and Rescue volunteers was invaluable, allowing officers to focus on more technical aspects of the search. Coincidentally, police and search and rescue volunteers got together earlier this month for a training session. “It went really well. We were happy to be involved and help,” Saskatoon Search and Rescue vice-­‐president Shelley Ballard-­‐McKinley said. Social media now allows for more rapid proliferation of such notices, White said. It allowed Corman Park police and the fishermen to instantly call up Austin’s photo. That allowed the search party to focus on an area they otherwise would never have considered. “It changed everything,” White said. “Without all the assistance we had, we’d likely still be searching.” White said cases do not always end well for police, so this was a nice surprise. “All of the officers were very excited,” he said. © Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix 3 Police searching for missing 80-­‐year-­‐old Saskatoon man THE STARPHOENIX MAY 15, 2014 Michael Joseph O'Keeffe is described as Caucasian, 5-­‐foor-­‐8, 190 lbs with a "belly." He has grey, combed-­‐over hair and blue eyes.Photograph by: supplied photo , Saskatoon Police Service A multi-­‐agency search of the South Saskatchewan River is on for a missing 80-­‐year-­‐old Saskatoon man. Michael Joseph O'Keeffe, a former teacher in the Saskatoon public system, was reported missing Wednesday around 11 a.m. after being seen in the 100 block of 105th Street East, according to Saskatoon police. As part of their search, Saskatoon police confirmed a sighting at a restaurant south of Saskatoon on Valley Road around 3 p.m. According to police, officers found personal affects that suggested he was near the river. As a result, members of the RCMP, Saskatoon Police Service public safety unit and air support unit, along with Saskatoon Search and Rescue and STARS, coordinated a search of the river and surrounding area. He is described as Caucasian, 5-­‐foor-­‐8 and 190 pounds with a "belly." He has grey, combed-­‐over hair and blue eyes. O’Keeffe was described as being in good physical condition but “suffers from memory issues,” according to police. He was last seen wearing a red plaid Scottish-­‐style golf hat, as pictured above. Anyone with information on O’Keeffe’s whereabouts is asked to call police. © Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix RCMP begin air search Monday for missing Ochapowace First Nation teen 4 Kelly Allary, 17, has been missing since May 19. (RCMP handout) CTV Regina Published Monday, May 26, 2014 8:25AM CST Last Updated Monday, May 26, 2014 5:33PM CST RCMP began an air search Monday for a missing 17-­‐year-­‐old boy from the Ochapowace First Nation. Kelly Allary was last seen walking on the Ochapowace First Nation last Monday around midnight. Family members and others in the community conducted a ground search but found no sign of the missing teen. Allary is described as First Nations, about five-­‐foot-­‐nine and 165 pounds with dyed blonde hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black-­‐and-­‐blue hooded Fox-­‐brand sweatshirt, blue shoes and dark-­‐
coloured shorts. The Ochapowace First Nation is located about 150 kilometres east of Regina. Missing Persons Alert Issued For Readlyn Man Written by Dara Currie on Thursday, 29 May 2014 (DiscoverWeyburn.com) 5 The Coronach RCMP are requesting assistance in locating a Readlyn man. Alexander Jack (A.J.) Scott Thompson was last seen walking in Readlyn, SK yesterday at approximately 6:30 p.m. A.J. is described as a 19-­‐year-­‐old Caucasian male, approximately 5'9" tall, weighing 170 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing black clothing and a brown jacket. A.J. has health concerns and his family is concerned about his well being. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of A.J. is asked to call the Coronach RCMP at (306) 267-­‐1830. Missing teen located by police -­‐ 19-­‐year-­‐old found after two days CBC News Posted: May 30, 2014 1:48 PM CT Last Updated: May 30, 2014 3:04 PM CT A 19-­‐year-­‐old who was missing from his home in southern Saskatchewan since Wednesday has been found, RCMP say. Police said Friday that the teen was discovered walking near some railway tracks approximately two miles west of Viceroy, Sask. by a local resident. The man was last seen in Readlyn, about 100 kilometres south of Moose Jaw. RCMP, trained searchers and community members were involved in the search effort. News Release by Saskatoon Police Service Date: January 11, 2014 12:58 AM Release Number: 201430 Released By: S/Sgt. Lisa Lafreniere Occurrence Number: 14-­‐0029 Subject: Missing Person Located -­‐ 400 Block Avenue Y North Victoria Crich has been located and safely returned to her home. The Saskatoon Police Service would like to recognize and thank the members of Saskatoon Search and Rescue for their efforts in looking for Mrs. Crich. Thanks also to the public and the media for their assistance in this matter. 6 News Release by Saskatoon Police Service Date: May 9, 2014 11:39 PM Release Number: 2014308 Released By: S/Sgt. Lisa Lafreniere Occurrence Number: 14-­‐40209 Subject: Missing Person Located Shortly before 11:30 P.M., May 9th, 2014, 15 year old Austin Carter was located just north of the city in the area of Wanuskewin Heritage Park. He had made his way on foot to that area where he was spotted by a concerned citizen who passed on the information to police. Carter will be checked at the scene by MD Ambulance for precautionary measures as he may have suffered mild hypothermia. He will be returned to family who was also at the scene. The Saskatoon Police Service would like to extend our thanks to the volunteers with Saskatoon Search and Rescue who assisted with the search and the successful recovery of Austin Carter. Thanks also go out to media, the public, and specifically to the citizen who phoned in information regarding Austin Carter's whereabouts. News Release by Saskatoon Police Service Date: November 15, 2013 7:56 AM Release Number: 2013773 Released By: S/Sgt. Dave McKenzie Occurrence Number: 13-­‐107632 Subject: MISSING PERSON-­‐ Update-­‐ LOCATED Saskatoon Police Service reports the safe return of the previously report missing person, Mary Scarlett. We would like to thank the Public and the Saskatoon Search and Rescue organization for their assistance in this incident. Search for missing student moves to river CBC News Posted: Feb 04, 2012 4:02 PM CT Last Updated: Feb 04, 2012 7:29 PM CT A search for a missing University of Saskatchewan student focused on the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon on Saturday. Police told CBC News that the search and rescue team was looking for Hamza Alsharief. 7 A search team was at the South Saskatchewan River on Saturday. (Ryan Pilon/CBC) An official with the Saskatoon Fire and Protective Services department said their water rescue people joined volunteer members of a ground search and rescue team working on an area of the river around Lenore Drive. Battalion Chief Jim Lindsay said searchers wanted to take advantage of the mild weather. "At this time of year, that portion of the river is normally frozen over," Lindsay explained. "The search was intended to look for possible indicators that may result in locating Hamza Alsharief." Family and friends say it is unusual they have not heard from Hamza Alsharief. (Submitted to CBC) The ground team searched both banks of the river while the water rescue team searched the surface of the river. "The search lasted about six hours and nothing was found," Lindsay added. Saskatoon police have been asking for anyone with information about Alsharief, 23, to contact them. "Alsharief has not been heard from by friends or family members since Dec. 14," police said in news release. "While foul play is not suspected at this time, family members say it is unusual that he has had no contact with them recently." Police, dog team search for missing woman The StarPhoenix Published: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 Saskatoon RCMP are searching for a missing 58-­‐year-­‐old woman who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. RCMP were called Monday after Erlisita Hernandez went missing from her vehicle at the Dakota Dunes Casino on the Whitecap First Nation. Hernandez is about 5foot5, 135 pounds with brown eyes, brown shoulder-­‐length hair and is of Hispanic descent. She 8 was wearing a green Saskatchewan Roughriders T-­‐shirt, jeans and slippers. The RCMP search-­‐and-­‐rescue team was searching south of the city, along with the civilian air search and rescue. The RCMP dog team was also on the scene Monday night. Hernandez was last seen walking about 2½ kilometres north of the casino. Anyone with information is asked to notify the Saskatoon RCMP at 1-­‐306-­‐975-­‐5173 before approaching her. Media – Evidence Searches Evidence Search for Human Remains – June 14, 2014 The human remains located on the Muskowekwan First Nations have been identified as Fenton Blair Albert. Fenton Blair Albert was reported missing on April 7, 2014. Thanks to the members of Saskatoon, Regina and North Corman Park for attending and helping with the search. (Message on SSAR’s Facebook page from RCMP Sgt. Pete Garvey) Human remains identified BY LEADER-­‐POST STAFF, THE LEADER-­‐POST JUNE 14, 2014 REGINA — Human remains discovered earlier this week on the Muskowekwan First Nations have been identified as those of Fenton Blair Albert, 32, who was reported missing on April 7. On Tuesday, at approximately 5 p.m., a resident of the Muskowekwan First Nations located the remains in a wooded area near his property. The Punnichy RCMP was contacted and secured the scene. Police were initially unsure if the remains were human. The remains were positively identified through dental records. Albert was last seen at the Carmichael Outreach in Regina on April 6. There is no indication of foul play in Albert’s death, the RCMP said in a release. The investigation is ongoing. © Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-­‐Post Mother charged with murder in Monday homicide Police allege 50-­‐year-­‐old Frances Sugar murdered her daughter, 34-­‐year-­‐old Lindey Sugar. BY CHARLES HAMILTON, THE STARPHOENIX JUNE 25, 2014 RCMP search an area south of Saskatoon for the weapon used in a homicide Monday night. 9 RCMP have charged the mother of Monday’s homicide victim with second degree murder. Frances Rose Sugar, 50, of Calgary, was taken into custody shortly after the incident was reported to police. Police allege Frances Sugar murdered her daughter, 34-­‐year-­‐old Lindey Sugar. Police have also confirmed the death resulted from a fight that took place outside a vehicle on and near the public roadway. Frances Sugar will make her first court appearance in Saskatoon Provincial Court on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday. Couple witnesses homicide aftermath A Saskatoon couple witnessed the aftermath of a gruesome homicide while out for an evening stroll. A man, who did not want to be identified because of concerns for his family’s safety, told The StarPhoenix he and his wife were walking their dogs Monday around 8 p.m. when they discovered a woman in a ditch, bleeding from her throat and being helped by another man. A second woman told them to call police and then walked away from the scene, the witness said. RCMP and emergency responders arrived at the ditch near the intersection of Clarence Avenue and Victor Road shortly after the couple called police. Paramedics rushed the injured woman to Royal University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. This is the fourth homicide in to take place in the Saskatoon area this year. RCMP investigators remained at the scene for much of Tuesday afternoon. Officers with metal detectors were looking through the long grass along the side of the road, searching for a weapon. Nolan Odell, who lives near the scene of the incident, said he was about to get in his truck and head to work when he heard sirens. “I walked over and I saw cop cars and EMS trucks in the ditches,” he said. Odell said he thought at first it was a vehicle collision, but then police told him they were cleaning up a crime scene. He said he went to work, but his family was told to stay in the house for the night. Police blocked off Clarence Avenue South, near Casa Rio, as part of the investigation and were still in place for much of Tuesday. Saskatoon RCMP, the RCMP major crime unit north, the RCMP forensic identification unit and the RCMP collision reconstructionist are all involved in the investigation. © Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix Media – Major Training Exercises Police, Search and Rescue volunteers team up for training day Training day meant to foster relationship between officers and volunteers Reported by Lasia Kretzel First Posted: May 4, 2014 2:43pm Saskatoon Police and Saskatoon Search and Rescue (SSAR) volunteers are working together to improve their skills and save lives. The two groups spent the day together at the Saskatoon Police Services range north of Saskatoon and in fields around Aberdeen as part of one of the first joint training programs. “It’s important for us to work together now and know what each other’s capabilities are before we get out into a real situation,” SSAR vice president Shelley Ballard-­‐
McKinlay said. “It’ll just make things go a whole lot smoother that we know each other and we’re confident in each 10 other.” The morning began with first aid classes. Then, trudging through tall, wet grass, the officers and volunteers honed their compass and GPS skills. Constable Ben White said the training is primarily land-­‐based. “Some people might think how a compass would play into the city but there are different areas in the city that you would need a compass of GPS to be able to find different locations,” White said, adding that includes places along the river bank where a groom-­‐to-­‐be went missing in February. The training day marks the beginning of Emergency Preparedness Week and Provincial Missing Persons Week. Ballard-­‐McKinlay said in addition to promoting awareness, SSAR will also host a bike search and rescue class next weekend. lkretzel@rawlco.com Follow on Twitter: @lkretzel Search-­‐and-­‐rescue exercise offers refresher for Saskatoon police By Morgan Modjeski Metro Saskatoon May 5, 2014 11 Const. Ben White of the Saskatoon police public safety unit is seen with Shelley Ballard-­‐McKinley, vice-­‐president and communications director with Saskatoon Search and Rescue (SSAR). Police and SSAR teamed up for an exercise in navigation and search-­‐and-­‐rescue techniques.. Police and volunteers in Saskatoon took navigation back to the basics on Sunday as part of a joint training exercise. Converging at the city police firing range, about 25 members of the force’s public safety unit went through a refresher course in mapping co-­‐ordinates, reading compasses and using a professional grade global positioning system with Saskatoon Search and Rescue (SSAR). Const. Ben White said such skills are important for officers in case “A GPS is a great piece of equipment,” White said. “Unfortunately, it takes batteries and sometimes batteries will die and not work, or your GPS gets broken.” During searches, officers might need to call in emergency personnel or tell others where items have been found. If they’re without a working GPS, they have to rely on their mapping skills. Shelley Ballard-­‐McKinley, vice-­‐president with SSAR, said the officers were refreshed in everything from plotting co-­‐
ordinates to lost-­‐person behaviour traits. She wants the exercise to lead to smooth operations during real rescues. “We’re trying to work together,” Ballard-­‐McKinley said. “So when we do come across a real situation, we’re already familiar with each other and how the different groups work.” At the range, officers were tasked with tracking and following a specific set of points established by SSAR. A larger version of the exercise near Aberdeen was scheduled for later in the day. Training day for Saskatoon Search and Rescue Reported by Bryn Levy First Posted: May 11, 2013 1:39pm Saskatoon Search and Rescue volunteers in their mobile command post during a training exercise May 11, 2013 in Saskatoon. Bryn Levy/News Talk Radio It's a nightmare scenario: an elderly man with Alzheimer's missing overnight. Fortunately, this week it was just a drill meant to help train volunteers from Saskatoon Search and Rescue. The excercise, conducted with help from the Saskatoon Police Service, started on May 10. The scenario was a boy and his Alzheimer's -­‐ afflicted grandfather reported missing on their way home. 12 Search and Rescue President Kent Orosz said teams were able to locate the child the night the simulation started, and the Saturday excercise now called for them to track down the grandfather. Orosz said there are profiles for different age groups and lifestyle types that help searchers zero in on a location. "Typically a child... tends to wander, doesn't have a great sense of direction, but an initial sense of direction -­‐-­‐ so they tend to go the wrong way," he said. The profile for someone suffering from Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia is quite different, typically, they are found within about 800 metres of where they go missing. "An Alzheimer's patient will typically not really be lucid and not be in touch with reality once they go out. So they'll often get caught up on objects such as fences or bushes, said Orosz Search Manager Jeff Baxter said that while this weekend's excercise was just a drill, there are key pieces of information that people can keep in mind if they ever have to report someone missing for real: "A good description, a picture is great if they have a current picture. If possible, a good knowledge of the clothing they were last wearing. It's a lot easier to look for a blue jacket, or something like that," he said. Baxter added that things like a kids' favourite handing places or hangouts, or the location of friends' homes are also good things for volunteers to know. Saskatoon Search and Rescue is a non-­‐profit corporation founded in 2008 staffed entirely by volunteers. blevy@rawlco.com Follow on Twitter: @BrynLevy City to test itself on disaster readiness BY JONATHAN CHARLTON, THE STARPHOENIX OCTOBER 4, 2013 Saskatoon Fire and Protective Services River Rescue team was in the river anchored near the Broadway Bridge training rookies on Thursday. Photograph by: Gord Waldner, The Starphoenix , The Starphoenix The City of Saskatoon will host a tabletop simulation next week -­‐ but it'll be a bit more complex than your average board game session. Exercise Domino, set for Oct. 7 -­‐10, is the broadest, most complex disaster training exercise ever planned in the province. 13 "It's the first one of this scale and magnitude, without a doubt," said Colin King, deputy commissioner for the ministry of government relations. The exercise will involve more than 30 government and private sector agencies and will test how they co-­‐ordinate in the case of multiple, simultaneous emergencies. That includes events such as tornadoes and flooding in the downtown core. "Every organization has a plan that's so tight and seems so up to speed, but as soon as you start putting plans together between organizations, that's where there are gaps," city emergency planning director Ray Unrau said. In Saskatoon, police have a revamped emergency plan, and the city wants to test its new command bus. A pretend emergency centre will be opened up to connect different organizations with field operators in real time. No particular event prompted the exercise -­‐ planning has been underway for more than a year -­‐ but King and Unrau said events such as Hurricane Katrina, the Lac-­‐Megantic explosion and this year's flooding in Alberta and Saskatchewan show the need for this sort of planning. The current thinking in emergency planning is that emergencies start at the municipal level, and that includes small businesses and schools as well as municipal infrastructure, Unrau said. A simulated evacuation is planned for Oct. 7, followed by rescue exercises at McNab Park the next day. "We've always said, 'This is the biggest thing on the task list, we'll send all our resources to that one big thing.' Now we want to say, 'We have 12 things -­‐ which is more important? How do we prioritize those 12 things and get it right?' " Unrau said. © Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix City to tweak planning after successful emergency exercises BY JONATHAN CHARLTON, THE STARPHOENIX OCTOBER 11, 2013 SASKATOON, SASK.-­‐-­‐ OCT. 8, 2013 — Exercise Domino took place in McNab Park in Saskatoon October 8, 2013. The exercise is to work on coordinating the efforts of all emergency personnel in various situations. [RICHARDMARJAN/STARPHOENIX] Photograph by: richard marjan By day, Kent Orosz is an environmental scientist. But earlier this week, he navigated for the RCMP as the force’s Dragonfly UAV took to the skies in Exercise Domino. 14 “Working with the RCMP Dragonflyers was a lot of fun,” Orosz, president of the volunteer Saskatoon Search and Rescue group said. Ten of their volunteers logged more than a combined 150 hours working with police and fire services. It was the largest operation the group has been involved in. Some helped evacuate buildings, while others were loaded into STARS air ambulances while playing as evacuees. “Everyone at the end of the day looked extremely tired and every single one of them had a smile on their face,” Orosz said. Exercise Domino, the most complex disaster training scenario ever conducted in the province, was a “pleasant success,” said Ray Unrau, director of emergency planning for the city. “We definitely learned some things we need to make changes for, but for the most part we validated a lot of plans, we validated a lot of capacity we knew we had but now we’ve proven to ourselves we can do it.” The city will be looking at more thoroughly incorporating the private sector in the future, he said. Typically, people think police, fire and EMS services are going to be able to respond and save the day in an emergency — but in reality they’ll get bogged down quickly in a disaster scenario, he said. Larger companies such as BHP, SGI, and Loblaws have a capacity the city didn’t understand before, Unrau said. “Imagine having one person we could contact that would be able to disseminate our message almost immediately to 500 people. “ The city will also look at including the private sector in MASIS-­‐X, a Department of National Defence tool that displays information, such as power outages, from different agencies on a tactical map. There will also be a “simple fix” in how evacuees are assessed — an issue that come up when people in Saskatoon were loaded onto buses and driven to Warman. “Imagine being an evacuee and having a medical condition but being put on a bus for a 45 minute drive, maybe less, but being transported with no ability to have medical care within that evacuation bus. “It sounds simple when you look back on it, but boy we hadn’t considered that when we were actually doing that.” Still, any plan depends on the preparedness of individual residents, he said. It’s critical that people have an emergency supply kit and a plan to reunite with family members in the case of an emergency, he said. jcharlton@thestarphoenix.com twitter.com/J_Charlton © Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix Exercise Domino evacuates residents in Saskatoon Evacuation exercise sees 180 participants transported to Warman Reported by Kelly Malone First Posted: Oct 7, 2013 1:29pm The evacuation phase of Exercise Domino tested Saskatoon's emergency preparedness. Monday morning multiple agencies and private companies worked together to evacuate around 180 participants from four different high rises and transport them to a reception centre in Warman. "From the movement of a few hundred people we can extrapolate some numbers on how long it takes and the organization that goes into the movement of a populous," said emergency measures coordinator for the City of Saskatoon Anthony Tataryn. 15 Participants are evacuated from a high rise as part of Exercise Domino in Saskatoon. Tataryn explained that eight agencies were involved in the practice evacuation including Fire Services, Saskatoon Search and Rescue, the Red Cross, and even City Transit. The key objective is to find out the inner operability of the response agencies. "Police are really good at doing police stuff. Fire are really good at doing fire stuff. In large scale disasters we have to be able to work together and integrate our systems," Tataryn explained. Even though Saskatoon largely seems catastrophe free, Tataryn said that events like Lac Megantic and the Alberta floods can be a sober reminder. "It could be any number of hazards. We would evacuate for dangerous goods spills, inclement weather, loss of power, we take an all hazards approach to emergency planning," he said. "Natural disasters can happen anytime and we are not immune to them. You look at what's happened across Canada and North America in the past couple of years there has been some great catastrophic events. So, it's important we do some planning around these things." Evacuation exercises have been done in the city before but Domino is the first time that municipal, provincial, and federal government are involved. "Usually when we do exercising we do it on a local level. There is definitely a benefit to make sure that what's happening locally is being presented to the province... A big part of the exercise is just the movement of information to other levels of government," he said. 16 Participants prepare to be transported to Warman as part of Exercise Domino in Saskatoon. kmalone@rawlco.com Follow on Twitter: @KellyGerMalone Operation Domino completes phase two in Saskatoon STARS Air Ambulance, Police, Fire Services, RCMP, and MD Ambulance participate in training Reported by Kelly Malone First Posted: Oct 9, 2013 12:25pm People trapped in flipped over cars, surrounded by boarded up homes, and a help sign sitting on a roof. It looked like a scene from a movie but it was all part of phase two of Exercise Domino. Tuesday afternoon at McNab Park eight different agencies including the RCMP, Saskatoon Police, Search and Rescue, MD Ambulance, and Fire and Protective Services practiced for an emergency scenario. "(There is) a multitude of scenarios. Sort of as the teams come onto a building and they find a situation they evaluate it, they contact command and then command sets up to extricate or move on," said assistant chief of communications and public relations for Saskatoon Fire and Protective Services Bill Coffin. "Our Heavy Urban Search and Rescue crews have been trained up to level three which gives them the ability to walk down a street and assess a building and whether or not there is life safety involved. But they've just never had the opportunity to do it." Exercise Domino gave personnel from all the agencies to practice skills and understand their roles in such situations like a STARS rescue, breaching concrete, rope rescues, and working with the unmanned aerial vehicle called Draganfly. "This is the very first one we have had all the departments working together also involving the provincial Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and some federal EOC members as well," Coffin said. "It's invaluable... you get to know other people, you get to know how they do things, and then you can think on the spot. Say we can use the RCMP for the dragonfly or we can use the city police and they can use the Eagle up there and they can spot different issues when they go up. Then they know what we (fire services) are doing." Coffin said it has not all been perfect but it has been a great learning experience. "Within the command structure we do have things we have to work at," he said. "Now that they've been put in a pressure situation they can see where maybe we need to do a little work." kmalone@rawlco.com 17 SSAR Calls Exercise Domino A Great Experience Written by Carol Thomson Friday, 11 October 2013 14:45 A volunteer organization that helped out with the emergency situation scenarios the city could go through says it was a valuable experience for everyone involved. Vice President of Saskatoon Search and Rescue, Jeff Baxter, says every time they do training like the work with Exercise Domino earlier this week, they remember the practice isn't for fun, it's because these situations can actually happen just like they did in Calgary this past spring or in Lac Megantic, Quebec. Some of the volunteers from SSAR were navigators during the exercises. Baxter explains that if the streets were gone, you wouldn't be able to navigate by street signs, so GPS and maps are used. SSAR had ten volunteers logging over 150 hours in Exercise Domino earlier this week. Exercise Domino included emergency crews and organizations from all aspects to test how organized an operation would be in a real situation. A One Team approach at work and beyond (Reprinted with permission of Saskatchewan Research Council -­‐ First printed October 23, 2013, SRC Intranet) Saskatoon Exercise Domino October 23, 2013 – Earlier this month, several Saskatoon organizations including SRC were involved in a major disaster practice exercise. The “Exercise Domino” as it was called, brought more than 30 organizations together to focus on an all-­‐hazards model to test response methods and collaboration. David Sorley, Senior Advisor of Risk and Business Continuity at SRC, attended the tabletop portion of the exercise and found it interesting. In the context of a large scope city-­‐wide scenario, David thought it was “useful in understanding how the other players would work together.” 18 Much of the Exercise Domino was a tabletop or virtual practice, but Saskatoon Search and Rescue (SSAR), along with various agencies such as the Saskatoon Police Service and Saskatoon Fire and Protective Services, were physically put to the test with a few evacuation and rescue exercises among other training activities. Kent Orosz, an associate scientist with SRC Environmental Remediation, has been president of SSAR for three years. As part of the exercise, he had the opportunity to take part in a mass evacuation of a senior’s complex. Working with several task forces to test the interoperability of emergency strategies, the group also took part in three separate virtual evacuations as well. “The reason it is called a Domino is that you immediately know the effect of one piece falling,” explained Kent as he recounted the experience, discussing the importance of teams learning to work together in an emergency. Based out of the City of Saskatoon’s operations centre, SSAR functioned as a support team during the exercise to provide “extra boots on the ground.” Thanks to a recent donation, SSAR also owns seven GPS units which enabled them to provide navigation during the rescue activities. SSAR currently has 28 search-­‐capable volunteers, but this number has fluctuated over the years. Having a strong and capable team is a point of pride for Kent, who has been involved with the organization since its inception. How he got started When Kent was in university, he found he had a strong desire to help in the community. He was looking for opportunities to provide disaster relief or some sort of service to those in imminent need of help. He was attracted to the work that the military does during states of emergency, so he joined the Army Reserves. As a new recruit, he did his basic training on weekends, but he was finding the schedule a bit grueling with his full-­‐time studies and he wasn’t sure that the Army was the right fit for him. He left basic training, but still felt he wanted to find a way to contribute. About a year later, he received an email inviting him to an emergency services volunteer fair; SSAR, a brand new organization, was one of the presenters at the event. The rest is history… As a founding member of SSAR, he became a team leader within a month and was a trainer for the program within half a year. In 2010, Kent took on the role of acting president and was elected to the position shortly afterward. In his time as president of the organization, SSAR has solicited a $30,000 donation from the Kinsmen Club of Saskatoon to purchase a command post trailer. The organization has also received a $4,000 donation from the Dakota Dunes Community Development Corporation which helped them purchase their GPS units. Kent is proud of the successful fundraising campaigns and of building a strong and dedicated team. In the beginning, 19 SSAR attracted 82 members, but that number decreased drastically as the organization went through some growing pains. Under his leadership, SSAR has trained and developed a strong and dedicated team that has been helpful when the group is called upon in practice and real-­‐life situations. What does SSAR do? Members meet twice monthly for training. Over the past few years, the group has taken part in a search scenario along the South Saskatchewan River, urban missing subject scenarios in different neighborhoods which included door-­‐to-­‐door interviewing and a multiple-­‐casualty exercise in Nisbet Forest near MacDowall, Saskatchewan. “Our SSAR training teaches us to have an adaptable mindset and strong navigation skills – not to mention emergency first aid and other safety skills,” he says. These skills are all useful when there is a real situation that requires assistance from SSAR. Since 2009, real-­‐life situations required SSAR to search for missing subjects in the Saskatoon region, sandbag to prevent flood damage in Borden, standby for search and rescue after a tornado in Kawacatoose First Nation, standby for cleanup assistance after widespread flooding in Yorkton and provide passenger notification of transit stoppage after a blizzard in Saskatoon. Feeling empowered Kent started at SRC as a student in 2006 in the Air Quality business unit. In 2012, he moved over to his new role in Environmental Remediation, where he has found his SSAR skills and experience have come in handy. Beyond the leadership skills he has developed at SSAR, including his ability to motivate groups of people and oversee complex and diverse programs, Kent finds the tactical skills he has learned training with the SSAR team have been beneficial. “In the northern remediation projects, there are times that we are in remote and isolated areas. It is a great comfort knowing that I have the skills to keep self-­‐sufficient in case of an emergency in that environment.” With all of the success he has enjoyed through his operational leadership, involvement in practice and real-­‐life exercises and fundraising as president of SSAR, Kent says: “the thing I am most proud of is seeing everyone working together as a team. It has taken a lot of dedication and striving toward a common goal to achieve everything we have.” 20