About Us

History:  The team was formed in 1971 by David Walsh and Michael Eisnor, both of Waterville, and was one of the first SAR teams in the province.

Present Day:  Our team now has about 80 members.  All members of Valley Search and Rescue are volunteers.  Being a member of the team is both demanding and highly rewarding – as part of an emergency response organization under EMO, VSAR members must be ready and able to respond when called upon, sometimes in the middle of the night and in any weather conditions.

Team members are trained in and regularly practice the competencies required to effectively and safely locate lost persons in wilderness or remote areas.  These include map and compass use, wilderness survival, Wilderness First Responder, radio operation, GPS use, clue awareness, tracking and others.

Additionally, Search and Rescue employs the use of modern technology and methods, with members trained in the use of advanced mapping software, search management/record tracking software and various communications systems.

VSAR Search Managers are trained and certified to international standards in Incident Command, Lost Person Behaviour and more.

VSAR was instrumental in bringing Project Lifesaver into the province as well, and trained Electronic Search Specialists in each of the 24 provincial teams.