Halifax Regional Search & Rescue

Map & Compass Workshops

Learn how to navigate with Map & Compass. This course starts with an evening of classroom learning. Then there is a day out in the woods with a focus on practical hands-on training. This course is a fundraiser for HRSAR, taught by experienced volunteers. It is an opportunity for us to teach the public how to navigate safely in the woods. It’s a good course to prepare for the E2C (Eco Endurance Challenge) which is May 5 & 6, 2012. For details about that event click on the E2C graphic to the right of this note.

Upcoming Courses: 2012

• Wednesday March 28, 2012 (Part 1 – 6:30-9:30pm), Saturday March 31, 2012 (Part 2 -8:30am-5:00pm)
• Wednesday November 7, 2012 (Part 1 – 6:30-9:30pm), Saturday November10, 2012 (Part 2 -8:30am-5:00pm)

Requirements

• Proper dress and footwear for traveling in the woods. (Boots that will keep your feet dry and warm, layered clothing (no cotton or jeans), and a wind / water outer layer.)
• Minimum 12 years of age (those under age 16 must be accompanied by a adult that is also taking the course)

Signup

• Registration forms can be found in the ‘Downloads’ section under Workshops
• For more information about registration and upcoming course, contact course coordinator at maps@halifaxsar.ca

GPS Workshops

The course will be a combination of classroom and practical field exercises. The morning will be spent learning the tools and the afternoon applying them in a scenic location in the woods. You’ll need a GPS and spare batteries, boots that will keep your feet dry and warm, layered clothing (no cotton or jeans), and a wind / water outer layer. The course coordinator, Ben Garvey, has years of experience using GPS units on land and at sea. This course is a fundraiser for HRSAR.

Upcoming Courses:  2012

• Sunday April 1, 2012  (9:00am-5:00pm)
• Sunday October 14, 2012 (9:00am-5:00pm)

Requirements

• Proper dress and footwear for traveling in the woods.
• Minimum 12 years of age (those under age 16 must be accompanied by a adult that is also taking the course)
• Understand how to use a map & compass

Signup

• Registration forms can be found in the ‘Downloads’ section under Workshops
• For more information about registration and upcoming course, contact course coordinator at maps@halifaxsar.ca

Hug-A-Tree Program

Information

• For information about bringing Hug-A-Tree to your school or organization, contact info@halifaxsar.ca

The ‘Hug-A-Tree’ program is designed to provide basic woods safety training to children.  The concept arose primarily out of concern for the survival of children who become lost, particularly those who defeat the efforts of search teams through mobility or failing to take the simplest of precautions against hypothermia.  Hypothermia is a concern in Nova Scotia 12 months of the year – especially for children.

The “Woods-proofing for Children” program was developed in the fall of 1986 by Halifax Regional Search and Rescue (formerly Waverly Ground Search and Rescue)  The impetus for developing and presenting the “Woodsproofing” program was, among other things, the tragic death in of a young boy who became lost in our N.S. woods. Despite a huge number of resources being applied to the search that summer, the 9 year old boy was found deceased.  The current program we present is a combination of our team’s “Woodsproofing” course developed through our own team’s expertise and experience, and the “Hug-a-Tree” program.  That program was itself prompted by a similar situation in San Deigo in the winter of 1981 that resulted in the death of another young 9 year old boy lost in the woods.

Since that time there have been more than 50,000 children in Nova Scotia receive the basic survival skills that one day could save their lives. There has been many instances of children using these skills to keep themselves safe when lost and being found quickly as a result.

The ‘Hug-A-Tree’ sessions are generally attended by one or two members of Halifax Regional Search and Rescue’s volunteers.  The service is available to any organization within Halifax Regional Search and Rescue’s area of responsibility.  Historically organizations requesting the educational sessions have included Scouting groups – Sparks/Cubs/Brownies/Beavers, Pre-school and Elementary Schools.

Through the Hug-A-Tree program, members of the Halifax Regional Search and Rescue External Training Committee hope to:

• provide children, especially younger children, with basic information on how they should react if they become lost;

• provide parents and other adults with information about prevention; and  through exposure and interaction with the children, encourage children to see members of the team as “safe strangers”.

Though the specifics of the individual sessions may vary to accommodate the age of the children, the overall structure of the program includes:

• the viewing by the children and/or parents of a video entitled “Hug-A-Tree and Survive”

• a hands-on heat loss/retention experiment for children to encourage discussion and demonstrate how quickly hypothermia can occur;

• group discussion to reinforce the points introduced by the video and experiment

• a final group activity where children act out a Hug-A-Tree poem.

The ‘Hug-A-Tree and Survive’ video is a central piece of the training material used for these sessions.  In 2008, the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) produced a new hug-a-tree video that is now used in our programs.  The video documents the story of a young boy who, while camping with his parents, becomes lost.  Parents and children are able to see some of the process that occurs during a search by search and rescue teams and what the child should do if they find themselves lost in the woods.  Basic points made in the film are to stay in one place, stay warm by buttoning up your coat, covering your head, and building a survival bed of leaves and tree boughs.  Children are taught to wear bright clothing, carry a whistle and portable shelter and always tell someone where they are going.  The children are assured that their parents will not punish them for getting lost and only want them back safe.

We also currently offer ice safety programs for children. We use a combination of information and hand-outs provided by the Red Cross, our own experience and training and a brief video by University of Manitoba researcher Dr Gordon Geisbrecht to explain safe ice practices and emergency ice rescue. We also have several simple experiments we can do to explain why we try to distribute our weight evenly (roll) when on thin ice and how cold effects our bodies functioning.