St. Paul Search and Rescue (SAR) conducted swift-water rescue training on Floating Stone Lake earlier this month.
The partial ice-out early in the season gave the team an opportunity to get their feet wet on their first open-water exercise of the year. Training will continue into the summer, and will include working in moving water on the North Saskatchewan River.
“Safety is a top-level priority for anything that we do so,” said search manager Vern Slonowski. With the swift-water rescue team members at different levels of experience, they thought it wiser to start training in the lake.
“We were debating whether we might go into the river but there were still some ice floes,” Slonowski said “We just felt it was safer for the first time out for the spring.”
St. Paul’s SAR team has 15 volunteers trained in conducting ground searches. From that core, team members develop other specialties including the swift-water team and a drone team.
There are six qualified drone pilots in the group, and drone aircraft equipped with infrared and thermal optics. Unlike a conventional piloted aircraft, the drones are capable of flying in harsh weather conditions and at night for several hours.
“Other training courses are also utilized at times to complement the basic ground training—such as tracking, wilderness first aid, or low-slope rope courses,” Slonowski said.
“We’re available 24/7/365 for deployment, and are primarily tasked through the RCMP.”
The team operates primarily within a 100-kilometre radius and is available to support neighbouring teams in Cold Lake , Bonnyville or Lac La Biche, but Slonowski says “the team may travel anywhere help is requested from.”
“Membership ranges from those with 25 years of service to those with less than a year,” he said. “A common trait among all of them is their dedication to selfless community service so others may live.
“The key requirement for anyone wanting to join is being willing to learn.”
