Who Are We?
Who Are We?
BackgroundCivil Air Rescue Emergency Service was formed in 1971, and the service itself became operational in June 1975. The primary function of CARES Niagara is to give a quick and effective response to land, water, and air related searches, and in some instances, to assist in rescue operations.
Our Unit has been formed to assist the Canadian Military Search and Rescue effort - Not replace it. Like many others you may ask why the Canadian Military would use a civilian organization?
Important
Reasons Why?The Canadian Military has only a limited search and rescue capability because of the enormous geographic area they must cover, and the number of possible simultaneous calls they might be required to handle.
CARES Niagara has trained and qualified members who can be called upon to react quickly to help in an emergency situation 24 hours a day.CARES Niagara members have been trained to a very high standard of readiness, and conducts mandatory on going training to ensure this high standard is be maintained.
CARES Niagara can perform many of the tasks of the Canadian Military Search and Rescue Units at a fraction of the cost, with the same degree of professionalism.
CARES Niagara has many important resources which might be utilized, which include private owned aircraft, communication search vehicles, direction finding equipment, hand held radios, computer systems, cellular telephones, and perhaps most important of all, volunteers with many different backgrounds, skills, and experience.
There are approximately twenty-five men and women who make up the CARES Niagara team. All are volunteers and have been trained as Spotters, Navigators, Pilots, Communications Operators, Administrative and Ground Support Personnel, Ground Search Personnel, and many other equally important positions within the Unit.
Due to the diverse backgrounds and skills of these dedicated volunteers, CARES Niagara has been instrumental in not only the development of our own unit, but have assisted in setting the standards and policy for all CASARA Units. Although limited funding is provided by the Federal Government, our unit is a charitable non-profit organization, supported through its members fund raising activities.
Pilots
and AircraftThere are minimum standards with regard to total pilot hours and currency flight requirements which must be met. All pilots will go through the full flight training schedule from Spotter, to Navigator, to Pilot, with the objective of cross training in as many positions as possible.
This is important to give CARES Niagara the flexibility to move members where needed at the time. Only high wing aircraft with a minimum of four seats can be considered for our type of search operations.
