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NBGSARA is made up of 11 teams located in communities throughout New Brunswick. Each team is staffed by trained civilian volunteers. Please watch this space as we profile each of the 11 teams in the months to come. For more information about NBGSARA capabilities please click on the “About Us” link on this website. Ground SAR 01 - York Sunbury Search & Rescue
History & Background
York Sunbury Search & Rescue (YSSR) is one of eleven ground search and rescue (GSAR) teams within the province of New Brunswick. YSSR is staffed by volunteers who take pride in serving York, Sunbury, Queens and Northumberland counties...
YSSR was the first NB GSAR team to be founded (1983) to assist the police authorities in search and rescue activities. The team-commenced operations with minimal equipment and a few members trained in search and rescue techniques. Over the years YSSR has been involved in numerous SAR operations ranging from finding lost children, individuals, Alzheimer patients and downed aircraft, to searching for evidence at major crime scenes. Today, we are a well-equipped team with a membership averaging 60 persons.
Like most GSAR Teams, YSSR can be activated any time day or night in all seasons. Members have training in urban, wilderness and night searches. YSSR members are well trained in Map & Compass, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Search techniques, Standard First Aid and many other SAR related activities.
As in any emergency situation a group requires the proper equipment to carry out the objective, YSSR has an extensive amount of resources to aid in any search incident; command post, equipment trailer, computers, digital mapping software, 10 GPS units, 16 portable radios, generators, mountain bikes and first aid kits. Members also support the group’s effort by providing boats, ATV’s and other equipment as required.
YSSR is also very active in preventative SAR and with the aid of the RCMP “Hug –a-Tree program reaches out to hundreds of school aged children each year with the goal to prevent a child from becoming lost.
Since 2001, YSSR has responded to 39 searches totaling 5,006 person hours of search time. The team has provided mutual assistance with searches throughout New Brunswick, traveled to Nova Scotia to assist with the Swiss Air Search (1998) and participated in 2 searches in the State of Maine.
YSSR headquarters are in Fredericton. General meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month at the Small Craft Aquatic Center 7PM. Regular training is scheduled 12 months in advance. For more information about York Sunbury Search and Rescue please visit the team website at www.yssr.nb.ca.
Recent highlights:
</B>In 2005 YSSR launched its “Lost Without You!” major fundraising campaign to replace its 16-year-old command post and equipment trailer. After much fundraising by members, we are pleased to report that the new vehicle was purchased in the summer of 2006 and is currently being outfitted as funding permits.
 2006 Command Post & Equipment Trailer
New Command Post and Equipment Trailer 2006
Additional Search Managers:
Long time YSSR team members John Weatherhead and Glen Martin successfully completed the MLPI course in 2006. This brings the team compliment of search managers up to a total of eight which includes Stephen Moore, Kenn Hong, Richard Thornton, Penny Grant, David McCabe and Bill Petley.
GSAR Search Dog in Training:
Penny Grant and Lexi.
YSSR Search Manager and dog trainer Penny Grant was the first civilian in New Brunswick to successfully achieve RCMP search dog certification with Ace in 1997. After Ace’s passing, Penny began training again with her new partner “Lexi” who progressed rapidly and achieved RCMP SAR certification in October 2007!
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