Asia Pacific Defense Forum Spring 2003

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Search and rescue technicians, medical technicians, and doctors form a chain of care givers behind a Canadian Forces CH-113 Labrador.

The first day involved familiarization training. The Russian SAR technicians conducted training jumps wearing Canadian parachutes. For most participants, this was the first opportunity to see Canada’s CH-149 Cormorant SAR helicopter, and most took the opportunity for familiarization flights on the various aircraft.

Members of Canada’s Civil Air Search and Rescue Association play the part of victims in the simulated major air disaster. Their injuries are described beneath photographs around their necks for rescuers to see and react to.

The exercise began the next day. It was a full-fledged effort in handling weather, terrain, and the challenges of a remote crash site. Rescue forces gathered, organized, and responded quickly to the victims of the crash. The "crash" site was in a rock quarry more than 24 miles (38 kilometers) from Gimli. The crash site contained several sections of a life-size airline model – created by Canadian forces for SAREX 1998 – that served as the simulated downed aircraft. A nearby field became a landing zone for the ensuing stream of helicopters. The three countries’ participants organized into sectors and maintained the integrity of their national identity while blending their efforts and talents.

Two SAR technicians arrived on the scene. Faced with 50 injured survivors strewn about the site, they quickly called for reinforcements. Canadian, American, and Russian SAR personnel, including a Russian physician, promptly arrived on the scene.

A U.S. HC-130 Hercules aircraft dropped an air disaster kit, the first parachute drop of this kit, near the crash site to provide shelter and support to the survivors and the SAR personnel. The kit is a pre-packaged, palletized, air-droppable kit containing tents, generators, and back-up medical supplies. The HC-130 also brought in two all terrain vehicles. Soldiers from the Canadian Parachute Centre at Trenton, Canada, jumped in with the kit to support the SAR technicians engaged in triage and care for the injured survivors. The survivors and SAR personnel spent the night at the crash site.

Bundled up against the weather and armed with information cards strapped around their necks, the CASARA volunteers played their roles believably. They stayed in the field overnight awaiting an early morning air evacuation to Gimli with a plan to move them on to Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg for further treatment.

Russian, Canadian, and U.S. rescuers meet to coordinate their response to the simulated crash site.

The Russian team binds wounds and
prepares a patient for evacuation.

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