Rangers Move Quickly at OPP Emergency Response Course

OPP Constable Shawn Gibbon, a search and rescue instructor, points out the distinctive red sweatshirt of a Canadian Ranger moving with ease through the bush.
Welcome to the OPP Emergency Response Team course. This is an intensive nine week course in which two weeks are dedicated to ground search and rescue. The training is held at Canadian Forces Base Borden which is one hour north of Toronto.
“The Rangers continue to impress us,” said Constable Gibbon. “They are so incredibly fast in the bush.”
“There is a lot to learn,” said Master Corporal Roland Shewaybick from Webequie. “The OPP taught us how to locate someone by using map and compass. The hardest part of the course is the cliffs and steep terrain but it still was a lot of fun. The night before, we conducted a search in the pitch dark. I hope I will be able to take back all that I learned on this course to the other Rangers.”
“The Rangers play an important role in the north,” said Sergeant Jamie Stirling, the OPP’s provincial search and rescue coordinator. “This is a great partnership between the OPP and Rangers. Last year there were seven reported searches involving the Rangers with eight persons being rescued.
“It takes the OPP on average seven hours to locate a missing person once we have been initially notified,” Stirling added. “Having the Rangers in a community means they can mount a search immediately with our guidance instead of waiting for an OPP team to arrive.”
Stirling said that the OPP are responsible for an area covering one million square kilometers of land and water.
Captain Mark Rittwage, the officer-in-charge of the Ranger company, said that having a Ranger trained in OPP ground search and rescue is an asset to the communities.
“Once a Ranger completes the OPP ground search and rescue course, they become a valuable resource for both their community and local police forces,” said Rittwage. “Rangers with this skill set also mitigate risk to both the rescuers and the person needing assistance.”
There are Canadian Rangers located in 23 communities throughout northern Ontario.
Two other Canadian Rangers completed this year’s training, Master Corporal Peter Goodwin from Kashechewan and Ranger Malloy Kakegagumick from Sandy Lake. This brings the number of OPP search and rescue qualified Canadian Rangers to 10.
Captain Bob Munroe is the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group Unit Public Affairs Representative.