The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Search and rescue skills will be put to the test in a series of emergency simulations at the eighth annual search and rescue exercise tomorrow in Spruce Woods Provincial Park, Labour and Immigration Minister Nancy Allan, minister responsible for the Office of the Fire Commissioner, announced on Wednesday. ÒThis friendly, yet competitive atmosphere is designed to challenge volunteer and professional search and rescue practitioners working under an incident command system,Ó said Allan. ÒSearch and rescue is a specialized and important responsibility of many agencies in the province.Ó ManitobaÕs Office of the Fire Commissioner has organized and will oversee a series of competition-based activities designed to challenge search and rescue professionals and volunteers, while demonstrating the importance of team work. Teams will rotate through various stations using techniques such as navigation, map interpretation, low-angle rope rescues, patient packaging, first aid, survival skills, search management and evidence handling. Agencies scheduled to participate include the provincial Volunteer Search and Rescue Network, Winnipeg Police Service, RCMP., Civil Air Search and Rescue, the Department of National Defence, Parks Canada, the provincial K-9 Search and Rescue Team, the Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization and the Office of the Fire Commissioner. The provincial Volunteer Search and Rescue Network is composed of volunteers from the Civil Air Search and Rescue Network, 30 regional volunteer ground search and rescue teams, and volunteer members of the provincial Urban Search and Rescue Network and K-9 team. This yearÕs provincial exercise is partially funded under the New Initiatives Fund, which is made available to the province through the National Search and Rescue Secretariat.
