Foothills Search and Rescue (FSAR) is celebrating the completion of its new command post, which will be used in future searches and training.
With over 50 volunteers, 30 operational members, horses, ATVs, and potentially a future water team, FSAR is a well-oiled machine at what it does: finding loved ones.
That mission is made all the more efficient with the new, purpose-built command post that has replaced the old post after over 20 years of service.
“The command post allows us to communicate to our searchers out in the field, because it’s got a base for the radios with a large antenna mast, which allows us to reach further than just your typical handheld radio,” said Nicole Jones, FSAR president. “It also gives us access to mapping data so that we can tell the groups where they are going to be searching.
“We can also use that data along with some statistical analysis to determine where are the most likely areas that the subject can be found, so where we should search first and then branch out from there.”
It also serves as a marker for the public to show that FSAR is in the area, while giving them a place to shelter from the elements, share information and have confidential discussions if needed.
The new command post is significantly larger than the original.
“It was just getting old, it was small and it was having trouble with hills and things like that,” said Jones of the need to replace the command post. “So the power and the ability to get into locations we may need to be in was beginning to get limited.”
Upgrading from the original van RV that was converted into a command post was a relief.
“The new one is actually a purpose-built command post,” she said. “It’s along the lines of a small semi, with the box on the back. We’re really excited to have the new command post and having it up. We’ve had it in a few parades showing it off.”
The command post is operational after seven years of fundraising.
“Most of the funds for it has come from (the Okotoks and High River) Rotary, so we’ve been very lucky and very grateful for the help they have provided for us,” said Jones. “A lot of fundraising efforts went into it, extensively in the last three years.”
FSAR has been a resource for the region since it was first started in 1993, after organizers identified a need to help emergency services find people lost or injured in the wilderness.
“There’s hikers, there’s dementia, children, any of those at-risk type people,” said Jones. “Our main tasking agency (for search and rescue callouts) is RCMP, Kananaskis Safety can call us in (and fire departments).”
Jones said FSAR is also looking at making connections with municipal emergency services in the near future. They are called in for five to 15 searches each year.
“The (searches) we’ve done since I’ve joined we’ve had a 100 per cent success rate for the ones that are immediate call outs,” said Jones. “Not all of them have been due to solely our efforts, but the individual has been found in all cases.”
Serving areas based on RCMP detachments, FSAR operates in the region south of Highway 22 to south of Cayley, and east as far as Gleichen.
Each volunteer undergoes extensive training, including basic training, which focuses on search tactics, navigation, equipment, and first aid; minimum of five meetings, where they do classroom exercises; and three cyclical training sessions, which are out in the field.
They have either two mock or real searches per year for the final stage of training, said Jones.
Jones said FSAR is always looking for volunteers, and are looking for people with reasonably good fitness, an interest in the work, and dedication to the time commitment.
“We’re volunteers, but we’re professional volunteers,” she said. “We have a certain level of training that is expected for everybody to maintain.”
For more information on services or how to get involved, go to foothillssearchandrescue.com
