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Increasing their skills Darrell Greer Northern News Services Published Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The group completed their advanced search-and-rescue (SAR) training during the five-day period. CKR Global Safety and Rescue program instructor Jordy Shepherd of Canmore, Alta., said advanced training is aimed at team leaders. He said Rankin will also be among the communities to host a SAR management course this coming month. "We covered how a SAR call out happens in Nunavut by getting a task number from one of the regional duty officers," said Shepherd. "We looked at the incident-command system, which is a standardized way of organizing during emergencies, and a bit of patient care in the Arctic because of the extremely cold temperatures. "We also talked about different types of searches we do on the land, and partnering with Parks Canada, the Coast Guard or the military." Shepherd said the Kivalliq participants did very well in the program. He said he toured the Rankin SAR office and found it to be quite organized. "Rankin SAR has had a number of large searches over the years and it's done well getting itself equipped and setting up a SAR base. "Our company also learns a lot when we come to Nunavut, in terms of how things are a bit different with the huge distances, remoteness and lack of communications you have to deal with. "We're using these courses to develop better SAR statistics to use on the upcoming management course." Chesterfield Inlet elder Joe Issaluk said he was involved with searches before there were SAR organizations. He said he's not sure how many years he's been doing SAR, but he was only a young man when he started. "There was a need for searchers and I was one of the first," said Issaluk. "I remember my very first search was easy because we didn't have far to go, but there's been many hard ones since then. "Now I'm older, but they need someone who's a good communicator and can articulate well on a search. "They often look to my experience and expertise when there's a search."
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