IROQUOIS – Since 1978, Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliaries have assisted with search and rescue efforts on Canadian waterways, and its newest unit, the Iroquois Marine Search and Rescue Unit is now officially active.
“This evening, I’m calling Trenton [command] and placing us on active duty,” said Coxswain John Bridge, who led the effort to create the IMSR. The unit went active on May 26.
An average of two-to-three volunteers will be available 24/7 to respond to calls, similar to that of a volunteer fire department, only on the waterways instead. The unit, which operates out of a slip that the Municipality of South Dundas donated to the ISMR at the Iroquois Marina, will be active from mid-March to December each year.
Last fall, the Canadian Coast Guard donated a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat or RHIB, for the operations on Lake St. Lawrence.
Currently there are 17 members of the unit, some of whom are still undergoing training for operations.
The unit will be dispatched from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre at CFB Trenton, which oversees search and rescue responses for much of Ontario, western Quebec, and part of the Canadian Arctic.
Operations funding comes through donations to the auxiliary. On May 25, the unit received $1,000 –$500 from the Morrisburg and District Lions Club, and $500 from the Iroquois-Matilda Lions Club. Among the highest cost to the unit is fuel for the boat. A training run from Iroquois to Long Sault and back can cost over $150 in fuel alone.
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