London Search & Rescue

As Ontario enters it’s third lockdown, Our team still remains available 24/7 for search and rescue operations with our community partners. For now, our team has returned back to virtual learning to maintain our skill set until we are needed. Stay safe.... London Search & Rescue

Happy Easter! Have a safe and wonderful holiday.

Congratulations to our newest recruits on passing your BSAR 1! We know some of you have been patiently waiting since the beginning of 2020. Welcome to the LSAR team! #searchandrescue #soothersmaylive

Congratulations Alesha on your promotion to Administration Chief! #searchandrescue #soothersmaylive #londonsearchandrescue #londonontario

Ironstone building is generously donating $10,000 to a lucky organization in London. We would like your vote to be that organization as we’ve been nominated as a potential recipient. Please click their link to vote (it’s super easy) and please share and ask others to vote for us as well. These funds would help us with operating costs, training, and outfitting our volunteers with uniforms. It’s our first year as an independent organization and not knowing what unexpected ...costs may arise, this would add security for our team and allow us to return our focus to search and rescue rather than fundraising. Thanks in advance London!

This afternoon, London Search and Rescue delivered AdventureSmart training to members of the 92nd girl guide unit at Westminster Ponds. Doing our part to inspire #girlgreatness Thanks to Laurie, Henry, and Sue for presenting this valuable prevention program. ^TI - PIO

UPDATE: Teeple Terrace A coordinated effort involving London Police Service - Canada, London Fire Department, Middlesex-London Paramedic Service and the City i...s under way to recover the body of the individual who remains trapped following the partial collapse of the building. Because of the instability of the structure at this time, efforts are proceeding with caution to ensure the safety of teams working on site. Recovery efforts could take some time. Updates will be provided as progress is made. Media Release: https://london.ca//incident-teeple-terrace-update-recovery

Canada Task Force 3 is also responding to London. Our thoughts are with all involved. Please avoid the area. ... ^TI - PIO

This just in! THro London. has donated a 6 person event certificate to London Search & Rescue for our upcoming Online Auction! This amazing gift is valued at $240! THro is London's original knife throwing club (not to mention axe and tomahawk throwing!) Is there someone on your Christmas list who would love this? Check back daily for new exciting gifts to bid on!

A huge thank you goes out to Matt and the team at @meretusa for helping us get some new trauma bags! These are absolutely perfect for us!! We can’t be thankful enough for the amazing support we have. Thank you! #searchandrescue #soothersmaylive #lsar #meretusa #thankyou #supportingthecommunity

Items are being added daily! Bidding starts Dec 1st. Could be some great Christmas gift ideas. Please see the event to view the items!

Have you checked out our Online Auction yet? The elves at Mitchell's Soup Company have sent their donation special delivery and we can't wait to see what's coming! Check back daily to see new items posted! Mitchell’s Soup Co. is a Canadian family owned business that has been hand making dried soup, stew, chili and rice dish mixes since 2008. Their artisan products offer easy to prepare, healthy meals that the whole family will enjoy. Their mixes make great gifts! Mitchell’...s carries a wide range of products that are sold through many fine retailers across Canada as well as through our very own Online Market. Visit their website for more information: mitchellssoupco.com

Thanks to the Royal Canadian Legion - Zone A6 for their donation of 6 blankets, and to Randy W for his donation of a 100 foot extension cord! Two more items crossed off our Christmas List!

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our GoFundMe account. $7,700 is a great start to funding our operations! A special shout out to all the anonymous donors- we don’t know who you are, but we appreciate you! https://gf.me/u/y3wt5f.

This online auction will help us buy all the items on our Christmas Wishlist. These are many of the items stolen from us in September. Thankfully some wonderful Elves have fulfilled our wishes already. Spread the word about our auction - we'd love to check all these boxes! https://www.facebook.com/events/361259758437415/?active_tab=discussion is the link to our auction - items are added daily from our photographer Brian Shimla Photography.

MISSING PERSON Kimberley Taylor Looking for the Public’s Assistance UPDATE: Taylor has been located and is safe. Thank you for your assistance. ... LONDON, ON (November 14, 2020) The London Police Service is requesting the public’s assistance in locating 53-year-old Kimberley Taylor of London. Kimberley is described as a female, Caucasian, approximately 5’3, medium build, with short brown hair. Kimberley was last seen on November 14th, 2020, at approximately 7:00 p.m. in the area of Oxford Street West and Wharncliffe Road North. She was wearing a red sweater, blue jeans and knee-height black boots. Family and police are concerned for her welfare. Anyone with information in relation to her whereabouts is asked to call the London Police Service at (519) 661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Information can also be sent in on-line anonymously to www.londoncrimestoppers.com https://www.londonpolice.ca/Modules/News/index.aspx

Thank you London Professional Firefighter Association for your donation! We couldn’t ask for better community partners. #communitypartners #thankyou

The London Search and Rescue team would like to thank Western’s Campus Community Police Service - Western University for their donation. With Community Partners like you we are able to continue our Search and Rescue capabilities.

Items have been starting to get posted in our silent auction event! To check these out please go to our event page!

Congratulations to BobbieLyn on your promotion to Training Officer! We look forward to to your training!

Congratulations to our teammate Chrissy on the completion of her Rope Rescue Technician Certificate through Access Rescue Canada, Inc. Your dedication to learning is an asset to our team! (Note, Pic is pre-covid)

Tune in! In 20 minutes LSAR will be on Easy 101.3 with Hilary and Mark! We will be talking about our team and raising awareness for our GoFundMe campaign. https://gf.me/u/y3wt5f

So much to be thankful for today! Our Go Fund Me page is at $2490! So many Londoners visited our London Search & Rescue bottle drive depots and donated empties today! Our garages are full! There was a bake sale on our behalf which did amazing. Thanks Mamasim! ... Our bottle drive continues through to Sunday the 18th so if you didn't get your empties dropped off today, there is still time. Our GoFundMe Will continue as well. We are so thankful that the community has rallied around our team. Thanks for all the shares and helping us get the word out! Starting a non-profit is quite the challenge and you’re ensuring we succeed! Happy Thanksgiving London!

Check out our Silent Auction starting Dec 1st to Dec 4th! Lots of great local businesses are coming out to support this event!

Since being featured on 980 CFPL News and the The London Free Press we've had numerous inquires about joining our team. Our team recruiter can be contacted at [email protected]. We're pausing recruitment until we're operational again (and also due to Covid) but if you'd like more information about joining the team send us an email. We'll gladly let you know when we're accepting new trainees, likely Spring 2021. Our teammates are trained on: - Orienteering, Map & co...mpass, GPS, land navigation - Missing person behaviour - Psychology of Survival - Clue awareness, evidence handling - Search Patterns, search management - Mantracking and Rope Rescue - among many other skills. See more

It’s all about being part of a team to serve and help the community!

If you have any empty bottles or cans we will gladly take them off your hands to help save our search and rescue team! #savelsar.

Thank you to those who have generously donated to our GoFundMe campaign. It’s been a rough ride over the last month between the theft of our equipment and the loss of our affiliation with St. John Ambulance. We didn’t anticipate having to form a non-profit organization, establish insurance, pay for vehicle transfers among a ton of other expenses to re-establish our Team. That being said, our team is amazingly resilient and has flourished amidst the chaos. This has been possible because of your donations to our GoFundMe account. Thank you, so very much Londoners, for your generosity. Due to your actions, we’re close to reaching our first milestone to be operational again. Kindly share the link to help us reach that hurdle. https://www.gofundme.com/f/rescuing-the-london-search-and-r

We would like to congratulate the London Search and Rescue Team's Training Officer, Mat Rokicki, as he has joined the St Thomas Police Service as a Cadet! Mat gained an excellent background in missing person behaviour, search techniques, evidence handling, and psychology of survival through us. Combined with his existing knowledge of Rope Rescue, he's going to be an amazing asset to the City of St. Thomas. #TEAM

Starting a bottle drive fundraiser! #savelsar #helpushelpyou

** Public service announcement ** Effective on Oct 5th at midnight, London Search and Rescue will no longer be a Community Service unit of St John Ambulance. The decision to separate was based around diverging missions and the financial realities of the Covid-19 pandemic for St John Ambulance. We wish St John Ambulance all the best and thank them for supporting and giving us a home for 17 years. The members of LSAR look forward to working with the other Community Service uni...ts of St. John Ambulance in the future. As for London Search and Rescue, we will remain very active in the community with your help. We no longer have the support of a strong community partner going forward and must seek the help of our community. Search and Rescue teams in Ontario are not funded provincially or federally. We have started a GoFundMe campaign to help us continue to serve the community. Please consider donating at https://www.gofundme.com/f/rescuing-the-london-search-and-r This campaign will assist us with setting up a non-profit, pay for insurance, replace lost equipment, clothe our searchers, and general operating expenses. Unfortunately search and rescue comes with a cost and we already ask our members to pay much of it. We are currently non-operational until we can pay for insurance and other monthly expenses. This news comes just hours after the search and rescue team in Kingston has had to announce their closure. We do not want to see the same situation in Middlesex County. As our team restructures and seeks solutions we look forward to showing you the new opportunity that will come from this change, and serving the community for years to come. Social Media Coordinator ^TI

Since the lockdown we've noticed many more Londoners on the trails. Westminster Ponds Conservation Area and Fanshawe Conservation Area are in excellent condition for hikes - the trees are turning reds and yellows. If you're new to hiking, or unfamiliar with the trails around London, we would like to suggest a few apps for your phone. Apps: AdventureSmart App, plan your trips, leave a plan. BC AdventureSmart AllTrails App, just in case you take a wrong turn. AllTrails... Enjoy the outdoors! LSAR (Pic is from 2018)

#DYK that Canada’s #SAR community has 15K trained volunteers? Individuals and groups can submit proposals for #SARNIF funding. http://ow.ly/shhf50BFtDy #SearchandRescue

The London Search and Rescue Team trains on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month during non-pandemic months. Currently due to Covid19, we are completing virtual training but we're itching to get back out into the woods. Here are some photos we'd like to share of previous training exercises.