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MARINE SAR

Exercise Ocean Guardian II promotes inter-agency cooperation

Off the Burin Peninsula, Newfoundland and Labrador, an explosion occurs on a passenger ferry. It causes severe damage to the vessel, several passengers to be injured, many more to be blown overboard and others to evacuate into lifeboats. A situation like this would test the response capabilities of nearby SAR resources.

And it did. This was the second day of a two-day, multi-agency security and SAR exercise in September 2005 called Ocean Guardian II. The security element of the scenario was carried out on the first day and involved terrorists, who are detained on a ferry by the RCMP, and their associates, who have detonated a car bomb in the town of Fortune, NL. On the second day, the bomb explodes on the ferry and SAR resources are thrown into action.

The exercise was funded in part by the Search and Rescue New Initiatives Fund (SAR NIF) to foster inter-agency cooperation as well as to test and evaluate the provincial and municipal emergency response plans in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Not only did the exercise involve municipal, provincial, federal and volunteer groups in Canada, but representatives from France also participated in the scenario. In fact, the first vessel on scene was the Fulmar, a French patrol vessel from the Gendarmeries Maritimes.

According to Derek Smith of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (and former Senior Analyst at the National Search and Rescue Secretariat), cooperation among the participants was remarkable, but there were many lessons learned:

• Keeping survivors informed of the evacuation plan, because those who are not injured can feel abandoned and ignored while rescuers attend to the injured
• Using the most efficient rescue equipment and vessels, and
• Ensuring effective security control in the survivor reception area. Without this, survivors can walk out - meaning they may not yet be accounted for - and speak to waiting media.

"It was an excellent test of the emergency and rescue organizations in the Burin Peninsula area and in wider Newfoundland and Labrador," Mr. Smith said. "This was the best multi-agency exercise I have witnessed in Canada during the past two years."

NIF project number: DFO 4/05

SAR-BQ 2005: An event to strengthen relations between coastal rescue teams
By Marie-Dominic Breault
Christian Émond, host of SAR-BQ 2004, communicated his dream to unite all nautical responders in one great team. Carl Marois and Caroline Villeneuve have taken the lead in organizing the 2005 event.

This year, the event took place on June 29 at the Marina de Saurel (Québec). Amongst participants, there were members from the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Student Program of the Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons, paramedics, fire fighters, members of the Sûreté du Québec, representatives from the Office of Boating Safety, and from QIT-Fer et Titane Inc. Also, for the first year, businesses like Mustang Survival, Nautilus by Protexion, Équipement Médical Rive-Nord et Garmin were invited to attend.
First, each group of stakeholders presented itself, briefly stating their role in the jurisdiction and their human and material resources. Mr André Audet followed with a presentation on the role of the OSC (On Scene Commander) during missions where several rescue teams are interacting.
This edition of SAR-BQ was a real success. Once again, it was a great opportunity for the stakeholders to get closer; they now know each other better and mingle more freely. Incidentally, the presentation on OSC was the pivotal moment of this multidisciplinary meeting; it oriented the participants towards a common work approach that is most effective. To top it off, the few businesses attending the event had prepared a surprise demonstration of the efficacy of lifejackets, wet and dry suits in the marina.

The SAR-BQ 2005 event has strengthened the links and enhanced confidence between coastal rescue teams, giving birth to a true partnership.

Marie Dominic Breault is a crew member of the Student Coastal Rescue Program

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