Parks Canada safety training pushes employees to the limit
As he rumbles down the highway in his Parks Canada car, John Wilmshurst speaks in a strained voice.
He鈥檚 on his way to Whistlers Campground, explaining the situation as he drives. A young girl is missing, her father is AWOL and her distressed mother is at the campground, taxing Parks Canada鈥檚 resources.
Several two-person strike teams have been deployed to find the girl, and in the incident command room Visitor Safety Specialist Max Darrah is on the radio keeping everyone in line.
More than 25 Parks employees are in on the operation, and the fact that it鈥檚 all a simulation does little to reduce their stress.
At the start of every camping season, Parks鈥� visitor safety team undergoes intensive multi-day training, designed to prepare them to keep visitors safe throughout the summer. The day before, the crew had gone through what Wilmshurst calls 鈥渟tartup training,鈥� and today they are putting that training to the test, responding to multiple, overlapping scenarios over a short period of time.
The idea is to stretch the team鈥檚 resources to the absolute limit, forcing leaders to split their personnel and send the right people to deal with each crisis as it arises. Earlier that day the team responded to a simulated grizzly mauling near the golf course, while at the same time conducting a high-angle rescue at Old Fort Point.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e really stretching us, and that鈥檚 the point,鈥� says Wilmshurst, as he rolls into the campground, where the 鈥渟taging area鈥� for the search is set up. Visitor Safety Specialist A.L. Horton talks into a two-way radio, and beside him someone pours over a map featuring three red circles indicating the search areas.
鈥淥ne of the things we really pride ourselves on here in Jasper is that everyone gets involved,鈥� Wilmshurst says, explaining that everyone from visitor experience personnel, to scientists like himself and visitor safety specialists are out in the field for a rescue.
The actual visitor safety team consists of just seven specialists, and when a crisis arises they are the ones who take on leadership positions. But Wilmshurt explains that all kinds of other people are involved in the auxiliary parts of the operation: hauling equipment, delivering lunches, controlling the search area and talking to curious park guests.
鈥淲e get everybody mobilized in the effort because we know that if we have a real incident like this it鈥檚 vital to get everybody involved,鈥� he says, explaining that with 120鈥�140 visitor safety experiences taking place each year, it鈥檚 important everyone in the organization feels comfortable when the pressure is on.
Last year alone, he says, Parks responded to more than a dozen 鈥渕ajor events,鈥� including the search for a missing girl that almost lasted into the night.
Down on the beach, Joe Storms鈥攑art of a strike team combing the riverside鈥攕lowly scans the water through a pair of binoculars.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking for areas of concealment or entrapment,鈥� he explains. It鈥檚 not good enough to glance at the river as he walks by, because shifting water levels can fool the eye. To ensure he misses nothing, he needs to focus on one area of the river for an extended period of time.
This scan reveals nothing, so he and his partner continue picking their way down the beach, stopping occasionally to stare out at the river.
On the way back to the staging area, Wilmshurst explains that for major operations Parks uses what鈥檚 called the Incident Command Structure鈥攁 quasi-military system in which everyone is assigned a role.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really effective way to deploy people in a rescue scenario. Quickly, everybody knows their role, everybody knows where they fit in the structure, who鈥檚 going to be giving them direction, and to whom they should look for direction.鈥�
It鈥檚 very regimented, he explains 鈥渁nd it has nothing to do with where you are in the Parks Canada hierarchy.
鈥淪o for instance, I鈥檓 the Resource Conservation Manager; I鈥檓 all these people鈥檚 boss, but I鈥檓 not the boss of this particular incident. That is Max Darrah, who is in charge, and I take directions from him.鈥�
At the staging area a group of Parks employees crowd around a picnic table, murmuring into two-way radios. The girl鈥攆or the purposes of the simulation, a floppy, toddler-sized doll鈥攈as just been found unresponsive, and a strike team is administering CPR.
Before long she is whisked away to an ambulance, and the teams start packing it in.
A few hours after the training winds down, about two dozen Parks employees crowd into the 鈥渨ar room鈥� for a debriefing.
鈥淲e wanted to really try and tax the group,鈥� Horton, who helped design the three scenarios, tells the crew. The team then goes around the table, taking turns talking about their experiences and giving feedback.
A few suggestions are thrown out鈥攖he 鈥渄istressed mother鈥� says she sometimes felt ignored and someone cautions everyone to be aware of the distinction between 鈥減atient鈥� and 鈥渧ictim鈥濃�攂ut for the most part people feel things went smoothly, and are happy with how the scenarios played out.
Ryan Bray, who filmed the day鈥檚 training for Parks, says he was impressed with how professionally everyone acted, and how well they upheld the Parks Canada image, while 鈥渟taying in the scenario and keeping it real.鈥�
鈥淚 really hoped that we would get a lot out of this, and I think we did,鈥� Horton says as the briefing winds down. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud to be a part of this team.鈥�
Trevor Nichols
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