Halifax Search and Rescue

On July 1, 1986, a nine-year-old boy wandered into the woods near the Beaverbank area and become lost. A frantic search was launched, which grew to become the largest ground search in Canadian history, involving over 5,000 volunteers.[1] After eight days, the boy was located deceased. This tragic outcome was the impetus for change, which resulted in a revolution in ground search and rescue techniques. In addition to the advent of specialized search training and techniques, the then Waverley Ground Search and Rescue partnered with Kenneth Hill a Saint Mary's University child psychologist to research and profile lost person behaviour. This research was published and become a fundamental component of how ground searches are carried out.[5]

On September 3, 1998, the organization undertook the largest mutual aid search operation in Nova Scotia's history. With the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off the coast of Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Search and Rescue was charged with primary responsibility for all ground operations including military operations and other ground SAR teams. On November 5, 1998, 64 days later, volunteers had contributed 48,780 hours with 3,141 person days.[1]

On December 5, 2009, a seven-year-old non-verbal autistic boy wandered away from his Cape Breton home with his family dog in winter conditions. He was not wearing outdoor clothing. An urgent search was launched by local search and rescue teams, with the Halifax Regional Search and Rescue team later called in to assist as a backup. Upon arriving in storm conditions on December 7, members from the Halifax team traced tracks left by Delorey's dog, and subsequently located the missing child alive but unconscious and suffering from severe hypothermia. Delorey was airlifted to the IWK children's hospital in Halifax, where he died the following day.[6]

On January 9, 2013, a major fire at the team's base resulted in the destruction of one of their vehicles, and damage to other vehicles and the garage that housed them. The replacement cost of the lost vehicle alone was estimated to be $100,000, which exceeded the team's entire annual funding. Repair costs for the remaining vehicles and building were additional.[7][8]

On May 29, 2014, a 30-year-old mountain biker on the Spider Lake trails in Waverley, Nova Scotia failed to return from an afternoon ride. That evening Halifax Regional Search and Rescue was brought in by the RCMP to assist in locating him. The search area covered 80 square kilometres of exceptionally dense and rugged terrain. After five days of continuous searching involving numerous helicopters, boats, 450 search and rescue members from teams from as far away as New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and 250 army members from CFB Gagetown,[9] the search was called off. He was never located, and remains an RCMP missing person case.[10][11]