Searching for Life's Real Meaning

EMERGENCY MEASURES ORGANIZATION-Searching for Life's Real Meaning

NOTE TO EDITORS: The following feature article profiles
a ground search and rescue volunteer in Cape Breton. Volunteers in other Emergency Measures Organization zones will be profiled in the coming months.

Joining ground search and rescue was as natural as breathing for Eric Langley.

For as long as he can remember, Eric's father was called upon to search for missing people. Because the senior Langley was an avid woodsman, people in the community of Seal Harbour and surrounding areas in Guysborough County made his home their first stop if a loved one was missing.

When Eric turned 16, his father began taking him along on searches. Now, 48 years later, Eric remains known as a leader in ground search and rescue in Nova Scotia.

"It was a great trade-off," says Eric. "He got to use me as a human resource and I got to learn the ropes at his side. He was my mentor."

Eric says it was compassion and fear that compelled him to play a serious role in the province's ground search and rescue program. He remembers the anxiety and fear he would see on the faces of those who were worried about a lost friend or family member. And he remembers his own fear when, at age 22, he got lost while out rabbit hunting. Fortunately, he remained calm and used his compass to find his way home.

Eric moved to Sydney, Cape Breton, and volunteered his time with the Cape Breton Volunteer Ground Search and Rescue team, which was officially formed in 1969. And it was clear to community leaders then that a program was needed to properly train and equip volunteers so they would not become lost or hurt on searches. The first big challenge was to create a training program, with navigational skills, including map and compass reading, as a top priority.

"The training modules available were sketchy and often contradictory," says Eric. "Furthermore, there were very few role models. We had to develop a training program best suited to our group."

Eric's involvement in GSAR training is widely known. It didn't take long for his expertise in training to spread beyond the Cape Breton area. In fact, for several years he chaired the training standards committee for the Nova Scotia Ground Search and Rescue Association, the umbrella organization for all search teams in the province.

Ground search and rescue was elevated to a new level in the late 1970s. Prior to that time, GSAR volunteers were only called out by the RCMP to search during daylight hours. Eric remembers the night that pattern changed forever.

"We were called to search for a guy in Grand Mira. We knew we wouldn't be allowed into the woods that night so we told the guy's brother we'd be back first thing in the morning. His response was: 'If I was lost, I'd sure like to think there was someone looking for me tonight.'"

This statement stuck with Eric and his fellow searchers as they returned to Sydney. The three group leaders decided they would return to the area and start searching that night, with the rest of the team reporting the next morning. Reluctantly, the RCMP allowed the determined threesome to begin the search. Two hours later, they found their man.

Eric's most challenging search took place in late November of 1998. A 14-year-old boy from Eskasoni was lost in the nearby woods. There was a good response to the GSAR call, and team members were joined by a large number of untrained volunteers, many of them on all-terrain vehicles. As search director on the second shift, Eric assigned tasks to the searchers. A heavy snow began to fall, coupled with high winds. When safety was at risk, Eric called the teams out of the woods and requested helicopters for the morning to aid in the search.

Eric spent an anxious night in the command centre with the young boy's parents. At first light, the weather began to clear. Not long after the helicopters joined the search, he received a call: the boy had been found, was onboard the helicopter and would be transported to the hospital in Sydney for observation.

"I was the one who got to tell the boy's mother that he was alive and well. It was a very moving experience," says Eric. "I don't know who had more tears on their cheeks, she or I. As she boarded the helicopter for the trip to the hospital, I had the most wonderful feeling."

That feeling is a strong motivation for individuals to volunteer for search and rescue teams. There's also an opportunity to learn, about others and oneself.

"Ground search and rescue is a very educational process. Each and every search, regardless of the outcome, is a learning experience," says Eric. "You learn more about search techniques, you learn more about the behaviour of lost persons, you learn more about your colleagues and you learn more about yourself."

Cape Breton's search and rescue team has about 65 members. Usually between 10 and 20 people respond in any given search, and if a child missing, that number can climb to 30 or more.

Not surprisingly, the rescued join the volunteer ranks out of appreciation and a desire to help others. Eric says that while there is no formal get-together of the found and the finders, chance reunions are always pleasant. Years later, the admiration and gratitude remains evident.

Prior to his retirement in 1994, Eric worked for 24 years in the provincial government as a training counsellor. Eric and Sadie, his wife, live in Sydney. They have three children and six grandchildren.

The provincial Emergency Measures Organization sponsors the ground search and rescue program in Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Ground Search and Rescue Association was formed in 1990 and represents the 25 teams and 1,550 trained searchers in the province.

NOTE TO EDITORS: A photograph of ground search and rescue volunteer Eric Langley is available. Mr. Langley is photographed next to his search gear at his Sydney home.

Members of the media can access this site using the following information:

• Go to www.gov.ns.ca/news/photos
• in dialog box, type in username: cns_guest
• type in password: vEw1078K
• click on: ericlangley and download file

The photograph is available in jpg format.