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Searchers hit the ground
Search and rescue training continues

Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 9, 2014

INUVIK
The Inuvik Ground Search and Rescue Team could be looking for you.

NNSL photo/graphic

Mike Scott of the Inuvik Ground Search and Rescue team is a study in concentration as he plotted a route on a topographical map during a training session Oct. 4 at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

The team, formed last spring, has been holding training exercises on a near-weekly basis since its inception.

From Oct. 3 to 6, more than a dozen team members took part in a basic search course teaching how to navigate while in the bush using maps, compasses and global positioning units.

Participants also learned the rudiments of search theory, and had a chance to practice basic skills such as fire-making.

The course was two and a half days long, said Lorne Browne, and he also pointed to a discussion of proper clothing and attire for being on the land Friday night as being very valuable.

"Everyone has their own ways of doing things, and have ideas on what works and what doesn't," he said. "It's a good chance to learn from everyone else."

The course was one of the mandatory components for being a member of the ground search team, said Jennie Costa, the secretary of the group who also signed up for the course.

"Some of the main components include navigation skills, so we're learning how to use compasses, how to navigate and we're taking a look at how to use topographic maps and trying to figure out how to send a search team to an important area.

"For example, how to take a bearing on a compass, how to keep track of where you've been, which is important feedback to the team as you're out looking for a lost person."

Costa said the course also included outdoor survival techniques.

"We're practising how to start a fire, how to keep yourself warm, how to make a shelter. A lot of these things include a list of the 10 essentials you'll carry in your backpack with you, not just on a search but anytime you're out on the land, to help you survive if something goes wrong."

Costa said a "lot of this is new to me" despite working for Parks Canada and spending some time in the field on occasion.

"For me this is really helpful, because it helps me apply some of these skills in the field. I like being out on the land, and being in a new environment, it's really important to me to take in as much as I can and use it on a daily basis."

She was particularly excited about a simple "quick and dirty" way to start a fire using cotton balls swabbed with petroleum jelly.

"This really works," she raved.

"We've been doing a ton of training since we started the team a few months ago," Costa added. "But this one is the one essential course that all searchers will have to take in order to become active team members to go out and actively look for someone and be part of a search."

The ground search team numbers about 50 in total, but many of the members taking the basic search course over the weekend are the heart of the team.

The unit, or individual members, will not respond to search calls until they are fully trained. So far, no requests have been made for its assistance.

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