Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

BRACEBRIDGE — The Georgian Bay Volunteer Search and Rescue team is back in Muskoka Saturday.

Only this time it’s not for emergency efforts, which included sandbagging during spring flooding — and the more recent successful search in Algonquin Park for two missing teenage girls from Kitchener.

They will be participating in a training exercise with Dufferin Emergency Search and Rescue (Orangeville) in a rural area east of Bracebridge.

The purpose of this exercise, is to hone team member skills and to put the search theory that is taught in the classroom to practical use in the field, team president Shawn McNeice said in an email to MuskokaTODAY.com this week.

He says in this simulated search exercise, volunteer search and rescue personnel are trying to locate a group of missing hikers who did not arrive at their established trip plan point, and who have been missing for over 24 hours.

Training like this is essential, as it helps prepare ground searchers for the reality of a real missing person search, and it is also beneficial for the operational command members who are tasked with making accurate assessments of the clues found in order to direct the searchers towards the missing persons.

It also provides an opportunity for the team’s K9 unit to practice their specialized skills as well.

Team History:

The Georgian Bay Volunteer Search and Rescue team was established in 1998 as a not-for-profit organization providing support to local communities in the Simcoe-Muskoka area.  When activated by the OPP and/or local police agencies, the team supports in the search for missing or lost people. GBVSAR provides law enforcement with highly skilled and trained search-and-rescue personnel, a K9 unit with two certified dogs and equipment when requested.

As one of the Province of Ontario’s 20 volunteer search and rescue teams, Georgian Bay Volunteer SAR serves a large number of communities in the Central Ontario area (from Alliston to Huntsville), and also provides assistance to other Search and Rescue Groups throughout the province as well.

As a volunteer organization, GBVSAR does not receive any type of government funding, and individual members need to provide all of their personal equipment and uniforms at their own cost.

As a group, GBVSAR participates in fundraising events in the community to purchase major equipment for the team such as radios, GPS units, medical supplies and to cover the annual insurance and licensing fees.

Georgian Bay Volunteer SAR members have to pass an annual certification testing to remain operational, and those certification standards are set by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Ontario Search and Rescue Volunteer Association (OSARVA), and the Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SARVAC).

Team members train on average two to three times a month, in both theory and practical applications of search and rescue.

All members of Georgian Bay Volunteer SAR are required to have an annual Criminal Record Check completed, and must maintain their Standard First Aid and CPR certification.

Apart from assisting with searches, GBVSAR is also involved with Public Education programs, which include providing the National Adventure Smart Hug-A-Tree program to interested schools and/or children’s groups, community education and training, and participating in Kids Prints, a Child Identification Program.

To find out more about the Georgian Bay Volunteer Search and Rescue team, visit www.gbvsar.com, or contact McNeice at [email protected].