Join Rideau Ground Search and Rescue This Spring

Rideau Ground Search and Rescue (RGSAR) is a dedicated team of 48 trained volunteers, always ready to support search-and-rescue operations and contribute to community safety. They’re now looking to welcome new members to their ranks.

Members are professionally trained to the Ontario Provincial Police standards in the performance of search and rescue operations. Their spring intake is now open, with the Basic Search and Rescue Course (BSAR) running April 18th and 19th, and May 2nd and 3rd. Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age and, according to Michelle Cassibo, RGSAR Public Relations Officer, should generally be in good physical health, as the terrain covered in some searches can be challenging.

The organization accepts volunteers from anywhere; however, the majority come from the areas within the circumference of Brockville, Kingston, and Smiths Falls. The team’s coverage area is much wider, extending east to Morrisburg, west to Belleville, and north to Algonquin Park, with their base areas in Smiths Falls, Perth, and Bancroft. However, Michelle notes that a call-out for the team can be anywhere, depending on the OPP and whether other teams require additional support.

Recruits can expect training topics such as Ground Navigation using a map, compass, and GPS; Clue Awareness; Search Techniques; Wilderness Survival; and Communications, based on the Search Techniques Manual.

Members assist with safety at area events in addition to their search and rescue services, as safety prevention is of the utmost importance to RGSAR. Michelle says 2025 was a busy year for the team, which provided services for over 10 local events, including the Lombardy Fair, Perth Santa Parade, Starbucks Day for National Volunteer Week, and 9RunRun, in addition to active search call-outs. The group helps with crowd control and road closures when required. They also provide Adventure Smart presentations (a national program) to organizations and local schools upon request through them or the Adventure Smart website.

The team is the oldest in Ontario, now in its 51st year, and has been involved with some high-profile missing person cases, such as the case of three-year-old Jude Leyton, north of Kingston, who was missing for over three days in March 2021, where the child was thankfully found. The team has members trained in peer mental wellness and as resilience coaches to help provide counselling to their members when a sad outcome is possible, or the search-and-rescue mission is proving stressful.

RGSAR is also one of only two volunteer search and rescue teams in Ontario to have developed a mounted capability, allowing its members and their horses to cover rougher

terrain if needed. Those who are interested in joining MSAR (Mounted Search and Rescue) must own the horse intended to be used for that purpose.

The majority of the training for Basic GSR and Mounted SAR is in Lombardy, with additional access to other properties in and around the area for specific exercises, such as Man-tracking, noted Michelle.

Michelle also mentioned that some team members are on a call-out list for SARVAC-HWF; HWF is a Canada-wide Humanitarian Workforce that can be deployed to assist in a state of emergency anywhere in Canada, such as during wildfire evacuations. Members would help with evacuation centres, conduct wellness checks, assist residents in returning home, deliver water, and provide cleaning supplies and water-testing kits, for example. Some members are also on a call-out list for OSARVA-EMO; EMO stands for Emergency Management Ontario, which is Ontario-based, and members can be deployed anywhere in the province to help with state-of-emergency responses, including ice storms, fires, and floods.

If you wish to make a difference and becoming a member of RGSAR appeals to you, contact info@rideaugsar.ca, visit www.rideaugsar.ca or their Facebook page (Rideau Ground Search and Rescue) for more information. 

To assist the dedicated RGSAR team in other ways, they accept monetary donations to help cover insurance fees, new equipment purchases and training. As a volunteer group, they rely on donations, grants, and public relations events to raise funds for necessary equipment to help them continue providing the services they so selflessly offer to local communities and the surrounding area.