Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Arviat (Nov 21/01) - Two members from each Kivalliq community attended a ground search and rescue training program in Arviat earlier this month.

The course was delivered by Paul Olmstead, a search manager with the tactical section of the Edmonton Police.

Participants were taught proper search patterns, along with how to spot evidence and find clues during the three-day program.

Bobby Suluk of Arviat was impressed by many aspects of the course. He often volunteers for SAR missions and found the tracking segment of the course extremely interesting.

"Sometimes we're not totally concentrating on tracking the person when we're on the land," says Suluk.

"The course shows you how to stay focused and recognize clues that will help lead you to the missing person."

Course participants also learned how to handle, protect and record evidence, the proper taking of notes from an area, sketches, photographs, interviewing witnesses and the hasty search.

"The hasty search is when you send out a couple of snowmachines on a quick trip to a specific area. If they report back finding no signs of the missing person, then you would send a bigger party," Suluk says.

Every search party or SAR co-ordinator should have a relative urgency ratings sheet.

The sheet helps to determine the urgency of the situation.

It covers such topics as the number of people missing, age, medical condition, weather, equipment, experience of the missing people and the terrain.

Each category is rated a 1, 2 or 3. For example, in age, if a person is very young, they would be scored a 1.

In the weather profile, existing bad weather would be scored a 1, predicted bad weather eight hours or less would be a 2 and good weather predicted would be marked as a 3.

"You add your columns for a total and the lower the number, the more important the need to launch an immediate search.

"Knowing how to use all we learned during the three days can be the difference between a successful search and one ending in tragedy."