{"id":358579,"date":"2024-09-18T09:24:09","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T13:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/?post_type=news&p=358579"},"modified":"2024-09-18T16:28:03","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T20:28:03","slug":"testing-a-cross-border-sar-response","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/news\/testing-a-cross-border-sar-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing a cross-border SAR response"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Just off the dauntingly-named Forbidden Plateau Road, into the mountains of east-central Vancouver Island, a small private airstrip is strewn with wreckage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near the smoking wingless fuselage of a small aircraft, an engine undercarriage nacelle from a larger plane, as well as sundry debris, are strewn around. In the smaller aircraft, an injured person slumps, moving slightly, while several dozen others cry for help nearby and off in the distance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s Friday, September 13, but this horror scene of a major air disaster is just a realistic construct\u2014the climax of SAREX 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Derek Heyes Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The event is a national test of interoperability among 110 search and rescue (SAR) crewmembers from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), approximately 70 from the United States Navy (USN) and Coast Guard (USCG), as well as members of the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tasked out of 19 Wing Comox\u2014a main SAR base 20 kilometres to the east, on the shore of the Salish Sea\u2014the crews from SAR squadrons across the country spent five days in one of the most challenging environments in the world. The Joint Search and Rescue Centre (JRCC) in Victoria, the main SAR control hub for British Columbia and the Yukon, is responsible for an area of nearly a million square kilometres that includes hundreds of islands and craggy mountains, which drop into heavily forested fjords. The search region includes more than 27,000km of coastline and 560,000km2<\/sup> of the unforgiving Pacific Ocean, extending up to 1,000 nautical miles offshore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Derek Heyes Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SAREX 2024, the first national exercise of its kind since 2015, was an opportunity for Canadian and American crews to cross-train, exchange best practices and hone skills that enable them to respond within minutes from a 24\/7 standby posture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this morning, the call for help from the \u201ccrash site\u201d came in at 10 a.m. Teams were quickly briefed on the mission, which involved SAR technicians being dropped from two RCAF Lockheed Martin CC-130 Hercules in several sticks. A low cloud ceiling necessitated static line jumps to ensure virtually immediate parachute opening. A USCG HC-130J Super Hercules surveillance platform provided top cover, orbiting just below the clouds but often disappearing into them as the ceiling rose and fell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within minutes of landing, some within a few metres of the wreckage, the orange-suited SAR techs spread out to begin triaging victims, a process that required a 30-second initial assessment to determine priorities. That completed, they initially focused worked on the most serious cases while ensuring that other victims were wrapped in heat-retaining mylar wraps while they awaited evacuation to \u201chigher-level care.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hercules crews monitored the situation on the ground for several hours, before directing in a series of helicopters to begin airlifting the injured. RCAF assets included CH-149 Cormorants and CH-146 Griffons, one of them a distinctively-striped model from 439 Squadron at 3 Wing Bagotville, Que. The U.S. helicopters included a USN SH-60 Seahawk and a USCG MH-65 Dolphin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo gallery:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n