The New Brunswick Ground Search and Rescue Association conducted a highly successful weekend training event on 16-17 OCT at Woolostook Park in Upper Kingsclear. Over 75 members from 10 of the 11 teams in the province came together over two days for workshops and three full scale mock search scenarios.

Special thanks to Stephen Moore, association vice-president and training officer and his colleagues from York-Sunbury Search and Rescue for pulling together all the pieces and making the weekend not only beneficial from a training perspective, but also a great social gathering.

Based on the success of this event, more are being planned. The next provincial training event will be held in November with the first-ever provincial level Searcher II training exercise.

The NBGSARA hosted a search managers workshop on Lost Person Behaviour on September 18th and 19th in Fredericton. Search managers from across the province had the opportunity to explore Robert Koester's important research drawn from the International Search and Rescue Incident Database. Managers also had an opportunity to practice reflex tasking, and search managment planning methodology that allows search planners to rapidly deploy resources during the initial phases of a lost/missing person incident. Pictured are Bert St-Onge (North West), Megan Michaud (Tobique) and Robert McCready and Larry Harley (Carleton).

Photo : RCMP New Brunswick Commanding Officer A/Commr. Wayne Lang and Mr. Joseph Labelle the president of the New Brunswick Ground Search and Rescue Association signing the new MOU.

The RCMP’s Commanding Officer in New Brunswick Assistant Commissioner Wayne Lang has signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mr. Joseph Labelle the president of the New Brunswick Ground Search and Rescue Association.

The new MOU updates certain aspects of the agreement between the two organizations, such as the expected responsibilities of both organizations, and ensuring both parties are involved in thorough debriefings after each search.

“The responsibility for lost and missing persons in Canada rests with police forces, however police rarely have the resources required to launch an extensive search. That is where ground search and rescue volunteers come in.,” says A/Commr. Wayne Lang. “These volunteers provide a valuable service to all New Brunswickers and give thousands of hours of their time each year with the extensive training they require and the actual searches.”

The New Brunswick Ground Search and Rescue Association represents New Brunswick's 11 regional ground search and rescue teams. Comprised entirely of volunteers, these teams provide assistance to the RCMP and local police departments in locating and extracting missing persons in wilderness locations.

Anyone who would like to find out more about volunteering with their local ground search and rescue team can e-mail

Staff Sergeant Daniel Lessard
506-452-3091