HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-05-09, Page 2PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2019.
Ten Huron and Area Search and
Rescue (HASAR) members are now
back home after spending a week in
Ottawa, assisting with flood
management.
Among those who travelled to the
nation’s capital were Jamie Mitchell
of Brussels and Theo Sawchuk from
the Blyth area. They spent most of
their time managing and co-
ordinating volunteers, helping to
sandbag low-lying areas and
attending to calls of flooded
basements or broken pumps.
As one of the few certified search
and rescue teams that travelled to
Ottawa during its state of
emergency, HASAR founder Patrick
Armstrong said he received much
praise for his team, especially
considering that the newly-formed
organization still only has a few
months of training under its belt.
“I received compliments and thank
yous both from the Ontario Search
and Rescue Volunteer Association
(OSARVA) and Ottawa Search and
Rescue in regards to members
HASAR sent. Our members jumped
in with both feet and we had seven
people there within 24 hours of our
initial request,” Armstrong said in a
message to The Citizen. “All 10 total
members who went were vital to
both the safety and protection of
property, as well as our relationship-
building with fellow search and
rescue members.”
Mitchell said that the members
received very little notice in being
called to the emergency in Ottawa,
so decisions had to be made quickly.
Conversations with a member’s
family and employer needed to
happen in a hurry and then the group
began making its way across the
province.
Personally, Mitchell said he
wanted to take the time to go to
Ottawa because it’s really just the
way Huron County residents do
things.
“In Huron County, in rural
Ontario, that’s just what we do.”
Mitchell said. “I know that if we
were in [Ottawa’s situation] that I’d
be grateful to see them helping on
our end.”
Mitchell also said there was a
personal aspect to it too, where he
felt the experience would be
valuable as a new member of
HASAR.
He said the group hit the ground
running as soon as they arrived,
helping out for 10-12 hours per day.
With busloads of civilian volunteers
arriving every day, the HASAR
members were most valuable to the
effort when co-ordinating those
volunteers, ensuring they all had a
job they could take on and that they
had everything they needed to help.
The HASAR group was situated
around Constance Bay, northwest of
the Ottawa city centre and along the
Ottawa River.
While Mitchell is a paramedic in
his day job, Sawchuk said that being
out in the field for the first time was
a little new to him, but that he
learned much on the fly.
He says that, like Mitchell, he
knew he wanted to go to Ottawa and
help if the opportunity presented
itself, so when he got the e-mail, he
immediately spoke with his wife
Julie, who encouraged him to go.
After speaking with his employer,
Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company,
Sawchuk was given the go-ahead
and he met up with the other
volunteers and started for Ottawa.
When the HASAR crew arrived,
Sawchuk said, the flood waters had
shifted. The river level had dropped
by five inches, but the water table
inland had risen 16 inches, so many
of the crew’s tasks were inland
connecting with residents of the
Ottawa area.
He said that while the search and
rescue training had prepared him for
being out in the field and finding a
missing person, what was
unexpected for him was all of the
personal connection involved in a
job like that in Ottawa.
He said that members were
dispatched out to homes of elderly
families whose basements were
flooding. Not only did they build a
dam to keep the water out of the
basement, but they assured the
seniors that everything was going to
be alright and they informed them of
what was happening in other parts of
the city, for which they were
grateful.
Sawchuk said he was proud to see
the response from Huron County,
especially since the organization is
still so new. Many calls were put out
to other search and rescue
organizations throughout Ontario,
with few sending people to help.
Both Sawchuk and Mitchell say
they learned a lot about emergency
management while in Ottawa, which
will help them to be better prepared
if and when emergency strikes in
Huron County.
For more information on HASAR
visit it online at hasar.ca.
HASAR members pitch in during Ottawa flooding
Doing the right thing
Jamie Mitchell of Brussels (back, second from left), who
acted as the Huron and Area Search and Rescue (HASAR)
lead in Ottawa, said that going across the province to help
was “the thing to do” to help fellow Canadians. Were the
roles reversed, he said, he hopes others would help Huron
County in the same manner. (Photo submitted)
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Jazz pianist Tim Elliott in Concert
All the Things You Are
Friday, May 10, 2019 - 7:30 pm
Trinity Anglican Church, Blyth
Wine and cheese reception at intermission
Admission is Free:
Free-will offering accepted
All proceeds to Huron Hospice
A helping hand
After only forming last year, the Huron and Area Search and Rescue (HASAR) group was
handed its first objective last week as it sent several members to Ottawa, where they assisted
in co-ordinating volunteers during the flood event. From left: Josh Hummel, Doug Burns, John
Groves, Theo Sawchuk, Bert Vandendool and Jamie Mitchell. (Photo submitted)
By Shawn Loughlin
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