Susan is volunteering for Search and Rescue on horseback with her gelding Sigauna.

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Photo by LAURIE WEIR
Dan Beaulieu (third from left) is the search commander for the Rideau Search and Rescue Team. They were
Photo by LAURIE WEIR on a training mission Sunday where volunteers were given clues to find a missing person. It took the team of
The Rideau Search and Rescue Team trained in Mon- about 20 volunteers about four hours to perform the exercise.
tague Township Sunday morning. The team now in-
cludes a half-dozen members on horseback, four of
whom are pictured here.
Submitted photo
Submitted photo Tom Berrigan (left side of the back board) and Jon LeMarbre lead the way for the SAR team as they extricate
Chris Ledder steadies the ‘victim’ onto a backboard. a ‘victim’ from the woods during a training mission.
Search and rescue team on a mission in Montague
By LAURIE WEIR board this local volunteer ini- ground teams because the C CPR. said Tom Whitney, who was a changed to the Rideau Search
ljweir@metroland.com tiative four years ago. mounted group discovered “The team is a member of former employee of the RRC and Rescue Team as more
EMC News - They do it so About 20 members of the the dummy. The ground teams the Ontario Search and Res- and also one of the members community members became
other people may live. team were in the woods for then stopped their search to cue Association (OSARVA), of that rescue team. involved.
The Rideau Search and this training exercise, includ- help bring the dummy out of which is the governing body “We had a couple residents “Once the RRC closed,
Rescue Team was deep in the ing four on horseback. the woods. for Volunteer Search and Res- go missing about 30 years ago the team reached out to the
woods Sunday morning (Sept. They were given the details Monday, Beaulieu said cue teams within the Province and died from exposure to the community and there were
30) on a training exercise. of the missing person, divided he graduated eight members of Ontario and is the liaison elements,” Whitney said. 15 members on it,” Beau-
They had to find a missing into groups and then searched from their initial year proba- between the OPP, NSS (Na- It was because of this that lieu said. “Now we’re up to
hunter – who happened to be in grid patterns along the ar- tion, to the search and rescue tional Search and Rescue Sec- Bill Armstrong, another staff 52 members. It’s growing in
a 180-pound dummy, strategi- eas where the hunter was last team who are now able to go retariat), EMO (Emergency member at the RCC, felt the leaps and bounds.”
cally placed inside a densely- seen. They were not looking on a call for service. Management Ontario) and need to have a search and res- Beaulieu says the team is
wooded, 250-acre parameter for the hunter specifically, but “It was one of the best train- other Volunteer SAR teams,” cue team on the grounds. now in talks with the Smiths
in Montague Township, just for clues. ing exercises we’ve had yet,” Beaulieu said. “We worked with Bill and Falls Police Service to be able
east of Smiths Falls. “I’ve been in here (the he said. “They really excelled The group may be having eventually he retired and John to work along side the local
Dan Beaulieu is the search woods) since Friday, and yes- at the practical aspect of this a homecoming of sorts in the McConnel and I kept the team force as well as with the OPP.
commander. The group has terday (Saturday) I dropped training exercise.” near future, as the Gallipeau's together and we completely Deputy Police Chief Mark
been helping assist the Ontar- clues along the route that will When volunteers are first of the Gallipeau Centre (for- inventoried every door – each MacGillivray says they are
io Provincial Police in ground direct them to the ‘body’,” recruited, they are on proba- merly, the Rideau Regional person was accounted for so optimistic to be able to team
searches of missing persons Beaulieu said. tion for a year. During that Centre) in Smiths Falls, have that it was easier to track them
up with more resources.
since 2009. A backpack, shotgun time, they learn the ropes, and offered the team the use of a down when they went miss-
“We’ve been in discussions
Their most recent deploy- shells, a glove and other items are certified and trained be- room on the property to use ing.
as its headquarters, Beaulieu “We helped the police find with the group with the pos-
ment was in the spring, as were hidden in the woods for fore being called to the SAR
the team to find, among other team. said. missing persons too, and sibility of adding the use of
they helped to locate a miss-
ing senior in the White Lake clues like a footprint. The group gets together There was a search and res- sometimes the army would their services in Smiths Falls,”
area. “I was very impressed. for training about twice a cue team on the property when send young troops to get some MacGillivray said.
Beaulieu is retired from the They found about 80 per cent month. Everyone volunteers it was the RRC. The team was initial training in search and
air force, but he has experience of the clues,” he said. their time and all are trained formed to help detect missing rescue with us.” “We are partners with the
in search and rescue. It was a Another 10 per cent of the in various search and rescue residents. They also worked It was when the centre OPP and the added use of re-
natural fit for him to jump on clues weren’t found by the techniques, including a Level with the police and the army, closed in 2009 that the name sources would be great.”
THE EMC - SF10 - Thursday, October 4, 2012