Quick Response: Nova Scotia’s ground search and rescue teams have new system for faster response

By Amanda Doucette

Zach Churchill, minister responsible for Emergency Management office and search and rescue volunteer Paul Service, announce the new ground search and rescue system. Amanda Doucette photo.

Ground search and rescue volunteer Paul Service and his side-kick rescue dog, Pax, visited the Shubenacadie Natural Resource aircraft hanger for the ground search and rescue announcement.

Zach Churchill, minister responsible for Emergency Management office, visited the Shubenacadie Natural Resources aircraft hangar for a ground search and rescue announcement, and got to take a peak in the search and rescue helicopter. Amanda Doucette photo.

Amanda Doucette photo

With camping and hiking season just around the corner, there is a higher chance of people getting lost in the woods.

Nova Scotia ground search and rescue teams now have a new system to respond to rescue calls faster.

“I know it will make things a lot easier, and of course we hope this will help us save more lives in the future,” said Zach Churchill, Minister responsible for Emergency Management Office.

Before the update, search and rescue teams operated by calling each volunteer individually for a search.

Now, the new dispatch system allows members to send one notification out to all individuals throughout the province, helping with organization and co-ordination.

"With this province-wide dispatch system, help will arrive faster to lost Nova Scotians," said Churchill "I thank the many ground search and rescue volunteers who gave generously of their time to make this happen."

The software comes in both a computer system and an app for volunteers, with the main platform at the provincial Shubenacadie Radio Operations Centre.

It’s the first of its kind in Canada and should save a critical amount of time during ground searches, said Paul Service, a Halifax ground search and rescue volunteer.

“The faster we can get resources and volunteers on the scene, the better chance we have of bringing a missing person home.”

The total cost of the new project is $69,000. The Federal Search and Rescue New Initiative Fund donated $39,000 and the provinces ground search and rescue volunteers contributed the rest through in-kind funding.

The project was in the works for the last 8 months and was online since April 1. The system was announced April 12, at the Shubenacadie Natural Resources aircraft hangar.

Service says, there is many other components of ground search and rescue that need improving but they are taking it one project at a time.

“If we don’t have our volunteers on scene quickly, nothing else matters.”