Canadian Forces Search and Rescue

SAR BG #09.00121 April 2009

Canadian Forces Search and Rescue

Canadian Forces Search and Rescue

In the field of Search and Rescue (SAR), it is the overall "effect" that matters. In Canada, SAR is a coordinated response bringing all possible assets to bear, including those of the Canadian Forces (CF) and Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), to save the lives of people lost or injured, often in remote and dangerous locations. SAR operations rely on an integrated approach that combines air and marine resources from across a spectrum of government and volunteer organizations. However, while the CF, with the CCG, coordinate the overall response, they are not necessarily the primary responder to a SAR event. Nevertheless, the CF and the CCG, working within the national search and rescue program, are committed to providing the quickest and best response to a SAR event using all available assets.

National SAR Program

The National SAR Secretariat (NSS) is responsible for supporting and promoting the activities of the National Search and Rescue (SAR) Program (NSP) as a means to achieve highly effective and economically responsible search and rescue programs throughout Canada. The Program is characterized by the three complementary components of aeronautical, maritime and ground SAR.

The Executive Director of the NSS reports to the lead federal minister for SAR, the Minister of National Defence. The executive director chairs the federal Interdepartmental Committee on SAR (ICSAR). Members of the federal committee include:

• Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces;
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Canadian Coast Guard);
• RCMP (secondary SAR vessels and aircraft as well as ground SAR through provincial and territorial contract policing arrangements);
• Heritage Canada (Parks Canada Agency leads ground SAR in federal parks and preserves);
• Transport Canada (safety education, regulations, enforcement, and accident investigation); and
• Environment Canada (Meteorological Service of Canada).

CF contribution to SAR in Canada

Working with other Canadian SAR partners, the CF play a vital role in a world-class SAR system that answers the call of those in need. Today, the CF annually respond to approximately 8 000 incidents, tasking military aircraft or ships in about 1 100 cases. Historically, these actions have saved on average over 1 200 lives and provided assistance to over 20 000 persons each year.

Responsibility for the “overall effective operation of the federal coordinated maritime and aeronautical search and rescue system” in Canada is assigned to the Commander of Canada Command. Canada Command is the military organization responsible for all routine and contingency CF operations in Canada and North America. Under Canada Command, responsibility for SAR operations is divided into three Search and Rescue Regions (SRRs). These regions are named after their respective Joint Rescue Coordination Centers (JRCCs), which are:

• JRCC Victoria, in British Columbia
• JRCC Trenton, in Ontario
• JRCC Halifax, in Nova Scotia

SRR commanders can task CF air and naval resources within their regions, as well as Coast Guard resources; the Commander of Canada Command can task all needed CF resources from anywhere in Canada. To assist with marine SAR, the CCG has two Marine Rescue Sub-Centres (MRSCs), one at Quebec City, Quebec, and the other at St. John’s, Newfoundland. SAR Coordinators may call upon any asset having a capacity to assist in any given situation. Although mandated to conduct air and marine SAR incidents CF and CG resources may also assist in ground SAR efforts and other humanitarian incidents. In the field of Search and Rescue (SAR), it is the "effect" that matters most and SAR Coordinators will use any resource at their disposal to render assistance to those in need as quickly as possible.

Civilian SAR Partners

The CF also sponsors and funds the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA), a volunteer organization established in 1985 that augments the military’s capacity to respond to aeronautical incidents by making available private aircraft and trained volunteer crews for search missions. CASARA aircraft and crews provide search and communications services.

• Eleven CASARA members have been killed in support of CF SAR operations since the inception of the organization.

The CCG has the primary responsibility to provide marine SAR assets. Like the CF, they also sponsor a volunteer organization, the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA), which provides vessels and crews to augment primary SAR marine resources. Unlike CASARA, which is restricted to search and communications activities, CCGA vessels and crews are fully capable of marine rescue.

• Annually, CCGA crews and vessels respond to 27 per cent of all maritime SAR incidents in Canada.

Mandate

Canada’s challenging responsibility for aeronautical and maritime SAR extends over 15 million square kilometres of land and sea—an area one-and-a-half times that of Canada’s landmass or of continental Europe. The aeronautical SAR area extends from the U.S. border to the North Pole, and from approximately 600 nautical miles (1 111 km) west of Vancouver Island in the Pacific Ocean to 900 nautical miles (1 667 km) east of Newfoundland in the Atlantic. The maritime SAR mandate includes the oceanic waters within this area, in addition to the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes. Ground and other marine SAR are generally provincial or territorial responsibilities.

Response

JRCCs have access to dedicated military SAR aircraft and Coast Guard vessels and crews, and CCGA resources that they can task to respond to an emergency in their region. Current policy requires each SRR to have one of each type of aircraft per SAR squadron to be airborne within 30 minutes during weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, and within 2 hours at other times. This standby posture reflects the fact that the vast majority of aircraft crashes and marine emergencies occur during these hours. Nevertheless, SRR Commanders have the discretion to extend these hours during times of heightened risk, such as during the seal-hunt or lobster seasons on the East Coast or during the salmon or herring roe seasons on the West Coast.

CF SAR Resources

The majority of the 1 100 annual SAR taskings of military resources involve aeronautical response. The primary rotary aircraft used to respond to SARs are the Canadian Forces CH-149 Cormorant and CH-146 Griffon helicopters. These aircraft offer swift response times, powerful hover and hoist capabilities, and dedicated SAR personnel. SAR fixed-wing aircraft such as the CH-115 Buffalo, CC-140 Aurora or CC-130 Hercules provide search capabilities while the latter carries specialized equipment such as air-droppable survival kits, including life rafts and shelters.

The Navy maintains one Ready-Duty Ship at 8 hours standby on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts that are available for SAR taskings. Other naval ships, particularly those at sea and in the vicinity of a marine incident, can be tasked by the SRR Commander as necessary. The Canadian Coast Guard has 48 primary SAR vessels deployed on the coasts and Great Lakes as well as 57 other multi-tasked vessels available for SAR as a secondary task. CCG primary SAR vessels may be tasked directly by the marine coordinators in the JRCC.

SAR Technicians

Each CF aircraft deployed on a SAR mission includes two Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR Techs). These individuals are highly trained specialists who provide on-scene medical attention and rescue for aviators, mariners and others in distress in remote or hard-to-reach areas. Trained in advanced trauma life-support, land and sea survival, specialized rescue techniques, including Arctic rescue, parachuting, diving, mountain-climbing and rappelling, these men and women have saved thousands of lives nationwide. There are approximately 160 SAR Techs currently serving in the CF.