INUVIK
After taking a bit of a break over the summer, the ground search and rescue (GSAR) team is gearing up for another year and looking for new members.

Maryssa Camacho, left, Linsey DeMontigny and Mike Scott take part in a training exercise last year with the ground search and rescue team. - photo courtesy of John Hicks

"We're not looking for 100 people to go out and pound the bush," said John Hicks, the head of the organization, explaining that while ground searches in the south may be conducted like that, it's not a reality for the North. "We're looking for people who want to be outside, but also learn the science behind it, and the procedure."

GSAR is still a relatively new group in Inuvik, only entering its second year. It essentially seeks to provide the management structure to search-and-rescue operations and co-ordinate with police and other departments to better organize volunteers. The group also works closely with other volunteer organizations like the Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA).

GSAR is hosting a recruiting evening at East Three School Sept. 24 and Hicks hopes to see many people out but was cautious in his expectations.

"We have 23 on the team now and we're looking for as many committed, long-term volunteers as we can find," he said. "We had 60 people out last time. One of the problems we had was people dropping off."

The team has yet to be called out for a real operation but its future presence will make things more efficient. Hicks said trained volunteers can make the best use of informed locals and communicate with partner organizations and other communities to better cover ground.

"Not everyone does every course," he said. "But if you get a team of two or three people, you get an amazing cross-section of skills, and if you team them up with two or three civilians, that becomes a really effective group."

Brian Larman is a training officer with GSAR and a member of the fire department and CASARA as well. He said the opportunities to train through volunteer rescue organizations are unique in the North.

"We've been doing some great things in town," Larman said. "We've got local people doing nationally recognized courses. We've gone from one certified first-aid instructor to five (certified first-aid instructors) in the community."

The key, he said, is learning to make use of the existing systems in every community in the event of a search-and-rescue operation. People have always gone out looking for whomever went missing, but GSAR is meant to streamline that process.

"Now we can all speak the same language," Larman said. "We're hoping to provide more search management, how do we get more people to do something efficient and useful?"

The program, however, is facing some major challenges. Namely, the team can't spend its $400,000 worth of funding over two years on any capital purchases worth more than $10,000, meaning it has to rely on citizens for equipment such as boats and snowmobiles. The team has no access to heated storage, making it impossible to store emergency gear.

"So what we're doing is working to expand wilderness training," said Hicks. "We want to develop trainers in the community so the training doesn't stop when the money runs out, as well as doing a lot of community education."

Hicks said the team is also looking at developing into something of a regional hub in order to better co-ordinate searches, as well as make the most of funding opportunities.

"At the end of the day, all that training helps us and helps the community," he said.

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