On September 30, 1980 at the Noel
Shore Community Hall a public meeting was held to discuss the possibility of
forming an East Hants Ground Search & Rescue Team. The meeting was called
by Paul Densmore, EMO Coordinator for
East Hants, because he felt there was a need for a team as East Hants has a
large wooded area.
East Hants Search & Rescue was formed in
1980 to assist the RCMP and local authorities in searching for and rescuing people
in distress. Since it's formation, EHGSAR has undergone growth from 20 local
people helping friends and neighbours, to a fully integrated number of 55
strong. In addition EHGSAR would assists local communities during
parades, and other events that require volunteer assistance.
On December 12 - 15th, 1980 the Team was asked
to help with a search in the Lake Killarney area near Oxford, as we had been
training faithfully every week for two and a half months with DNR, RCMP and the
Colchester team. Searches were run from the cab of Paul's truck,
with the cooks serving meals out of the back of the truck.
Then in June 1984 we thought we were the
"Cats meow" when we got a school bus for $1200.00 from Colchester /
East Hants School Board and purchased 4 CB radios.
On September 25, 1984 we were declared to be an
agency of the Municipality of East Hants.
In an average year EHGSAR will attend 5 to 15
calls locally. The local calls range from lost hunters/hikers/elderly, to the
recovery of bodies located in areas that require specialized skills. The area
covered by EHGSAR runs through all of EAST HANTS
The team receives approximately half it’s funding from the
Municipality of Hants East, the Province of Nova Scotia. The balance of our
funding is donations from generous citizens and business in the Municipality
and is greatly appreciated.
If you wish to donate, please contact a member of the executive.
Contact details are found under “Contact Information” in the Table of Contents.