Saskatoon Search and Rescue Inc.

Protecting Community Lives

By Katrina McDowell on Dec 26, 2024 in Giving

Saskatoon Search and Rescue (SSAR), a Yardi-supported nonprofit organization established in 2008 in Saskatoon, SK, is a 100 percent volunteer organization that provides emergency response services throughout the province. Established to assist local authorities in search and rescue operations, it specializes in locating missing persons, supporting community safety initiatives, and offering disaster response for major snowstorms, flooding and wildfires. Members are equipped with essential navigation, first aid and incident management skills.

“In the past five years, we have been activated more than 70 times and spent more than 4,500 hours searching for missing persons. This does not include thousands of hours of training and administrative work to operate a thriving and 100% volunteer organization,” explained Sean Taylor, fundraising director, searcher, team leader, search manager, and electronic search specialist instructor for SSAR.

SSAR’s mission is to protect lives and support those in distress through dedicated service and teamwork. It engages in public education and outreach programs, promoting awareness about safety and preparedness in their community. SSAR collaborates with local agencies, ensuring a coordinated response during crises. With a commitment to continuous training and improvement, SSAR aims to enhance its capabilities and foster community resilience, ensuring they are always ready to respond effectively.

SSAR has just finalized a new strategic plan, and a few key priorities include:

• Increase team capacity to respond to emergencies while ensuring this effort can be sustained.
• Expand its capacities by involving more SSAR members in a broader range of activities, mentoring, succession planning, and encouraging committee involvement to help share the workload in fundraising and administrative tasks required to operate a busy and thriving volunteer organization.  
• Maintain existing partnerships and establish new ones with funding sources to ensure the long-term financial viability of SSAR as a leading search and rescue organization.

Funding from Yardi significantly boosts the SSAR team’s ability to meet goals and priorities. The funds are allocated towards training programs and specialized equipment still needed for its Rapid Response and Wilderness First Responder Teams and any other new initiatives they decide to implement. This may include advanced training courses, essential gear, or certification/re-certification programs that enhance their skills and effectiveness. These funds also assist SSAR when applying for grants that require an investment from SSAR or to show that they have funding available from other sources to fund a larger project.

“This is the third year in a row that Yardi has supported Saskatoon Search and Rescue,” said Taylor. He continued, “We are humbled by your generosity and the trust you have placed in us to use these funds wisely. Your belief in the importance of our work in the community means a great deal to us.” 

Project Lifesaver

In 2018, SSAR saw a need to be proactive and preventative regarding people who are prone to wandering (e.g., elderly people with Alzheimer’s or other dementia and younger people with autism), so they became a Project Lifesaver agency. Project Lifesaver clients wear a transmitter or “personal locator unit” on their wrist or ankle that emits an individualized radio frequency. If the client goes missing, the caregiver immediately notifies the police and identifies the person as a Project Lifesaver client.

In addition to regular police resources, members of Saskatoon Search and Rescue who are trained and equipped “Electronic Search Specialists” are immediately activated. The missing person’s individualized radio frequency number is programmed into a receiver, and the search begins. SSAR strives to provide these services free of charge to prevent financial barriers for people needing this program’s benefits. Because of strong community and corporate support, they can continue to provide the services without cost to all of their clients. Saskatoon Search and Rescue is the province’s most prominent and busiest SAR team and the only Project Lifesaver agency. 

“We currently have 46 clients wearing transmitters, and 125 families have been supported by the program since 2018. During this time, we have been activated 30 times for missing clients, and each has been located quickly and safely,” said Taylor.

In March 2022, an 86-year-old Project Lifesaver client with dementia was reported missing from her care home at approximately 1:30 am. The temperature on this night was -18C with windchill.  

SSAR members, thanks to the Project Lifesaver transmitter she was wearing, located this woman less than half an hour after being activated by the Saskatoon Police Service. She was found lying on the ground outside, wearing pajamas and thin stockings, unconscious and severely hypothermic. The significant amount of training SSAR have done around hypothermic subjects helped its team make a quick assessment and provide appropriate care for her until paramedics arrived.  

Following up with the woman’s daughter the following day, she advised that her mom’s temperature was 28C upon arrival at the hospital, and her level of responsiveness was 4/15. Her temperature was back to 36C by mid-morning, and responsiveness was 13/15. The Project Lifesaver program and SSAR members’ medical training inevitably saved this woman’s life. Her family was incredibly grateful!

Volunteer Opportunities

Saskatoon Search and Rescue welcomes volunteers, but the requirements and commitment to becoming an active search member are intense. However, they have opportunities for support members interested in non-search tasks such as fundraising, preventative search and rescue education and presentations, logistics and administrative work.  

Potential searcher applicants must: 

• Attend a Prospective Member’s meeting to learn more about the organization and expectations of members.  
• Be 18 years of age or older. 
• Complete the membership application form.  
• Obtain a criminal record check and vulnerable sector search. 
• Have valid First Aid, CPR Level C and AED certificate. 
• Complete the Searcher Course with a minimum of 80 percent attendance.  

To start the process, an email can be sent to SSAR’s membership director at [email protected].

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