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PREVENTION

Prevention through training, trip planning and ten essentials

British Columbia’s AdventureSmart program is recognized as a best practice in SAR prevention, and plans are underway to expand the program nationally. Photo Credit: Cyndie Jones, BC PEP, AdventureSmart

By Jacqueline Bannach

What an opportune time to focus on prevention! Yearly events such as Emergency Preparedness Week (May 4-10, 2008) and North American Safe Boating Awareness Week (May 17-23, 2008), highlight individual responsibility and underscore the need to be well-prepared as an essential component of any prevention strategy.

The convergence of the “Three T’s” – training, trip planning and ten essentials can mitigate the need for a search and rescue (SAR) response. Across land, marine and air environments, there is a concerted effort to change behaviour, mitigate risk and enable informed decision-making to reduce the severity and frequency of SAR incidents. Issuing weather warnings, conducting safety checks of aircraft and/or vessels, providing trip plans and educational programs, SAR prevention crosses a myriad of jurisdictions and activities.

Like road safety, SAR prevention is a key component in reducing the need for response capabilities. Twenty years ago, the idea of compelling automobile drivers and passengers to wear seat-belts was thought to be too prescriptive and many questioned the value. Similarly, drinking and driving was not as stigmatized as it is today. With a common vision of reducing fatalities and serious injuries with key interventions such as awareness, outreach and enforcement, behaviour and attitudes can change. Today, the improvement in road safety is clear:

• Seat-belt usage has saved more lives than any other road safety intervention.
• Seat-belts reduce fatal or serious injury by 40-65%.
• Child restraints reduce infant deaths by 71% and deaths in young children by 54%.¹
• Fatally injured drivers whose blood alcohol exceeded legal limits in Canada dropped from 38% in 2001 to 29% in 2006.²

So what is on the horizon for SAR prevention? In the air, a national communication strategy to advise pilots and the aviation community of the impending change to emergency beacon alerting is progressing. As of February 1, 2009, satellites will no longer process 121.5 MHz transmissions and pilots and mariners are being encouraged to make the switch to 406 MHz.

On the water, North American Safe Boating Awareness Week covers five key messages: life jacket wear, the importance of boating sober, acquiring boating education, operator and vessel preparedness, and the risks associated with cold water immersion. In this domain, the Canadian Safe Boating Council is encouraging broad public awareness, and driving both a national outreach program undertaken directly by the Council and a strong, local outreach program with the help of volunteers Canada-wide. Last year, they created more than 43 million safe boating impressions and their goal this year is to surpass it by 10%. In addition, boating safety can now rely on enforcement assistance in certain jurisdictions. In Ontario, where alcohol was a factor in 40% of boating fatalities in 2005 ³, laws now make boating and drinking an offence.

On land, trip planning and preparedness go hand-in-hand. Whether you are a seasoned pro or a first-timer, knowledge, equipment and forethought may save your life. British Columbia’s AdventureSmart program, sponsored by the British Columbia Provincial Emergency Program and the SAR New Initiatives Fund, is recognized as a best practice in SAR prevention, and plans are underway to expand the program nationally.

The AdventureSmart website provides awareness by compiling the Three T’s for many activities into short, useful segments for the general public. AdventureSmart Teams and trained presenters deliver presentations across British Columbia to youth groups, within the school system, and at outdoor events, while incident analysis focuses their efforts in the right location and to the right audience.

The underlying message of prevention is that safety starts with the individual. Whether you’re flying, boating or on land, be part of the solution by being prepared.

1. © Copyright World Health Organization (WHO), 2008. All Rights Reserved.
2. Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics, 2006. Transport Canada
3. Hansard Transcripts, Official Records, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, 2005-12-01_L027.htm

Jacqueline Bannach is a Civilian Member of the RCMP. Her first exposure to search and rescue was as a young lieutenant, teaching aircrew survival to cadets at summer camp in Whitehorse, Yukon. In November 2007, Jacqui joined the National Search and Rescue Secretariat on secondment as a senior policy analyst, with a focus on revitalizing SAR prevention.

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