BAYSAR

10/09/2026

I would like to thank everyone who shared and responded to our September 30th post for volunteers. The response we received was overwhelming. BAYSAR has now filled all our available spots for our upcoming training Oct 17 and 18. I've called the successful applicants plus a couple applicants that are now on a waiting list for the course. For everyone else that expressed interest in joining BAYSAR, if you were not able to attend our info session and send in an application we will still try to get back to you at some point. If, however, you don't get a reply please contact us through the BAYSAR website https://baysar.net/ contact page and mark your inquiry as 'volunteering'. We will be holding more training sessions in the future. Again, thank you for your desire to serve as a search and rescue volunteer.
Stan French, President

09/30/2026

If you're in the North Bay area and you have ever thought about being a search and rescue volunteer this is the perfect time. BAYSAR is about to start a very busy fall training period. We are holding a Basic SAR course Oct 17 and 18 (Saturday 8AM to 8PM and Sunday 8AM to 6PM). Successful participants will be certified as ground searchers to the OPP approved OSARVA standard. Our BSAR certified members can then take a Wilderness First Aid course (40 hours long) that will be held the weekends of Nov 14-15 and Nov 28-29. Up to 8 of our members will also take part in a provincial Emergency Management exercise Nov 6-8 including Ontario Corps partner organizations St. John Ambulance, The Salvation Army, Team Rubicon Canada, the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC), and Feed Ontario.
If you are interested in volunteering with BAYSAR you must be 18 or older, able to get a police record check (free for volunteers), and fit enough to be able to participate. You can request more info for volunteering through the BAYSAR website https://baysar.net/

08/04/2026

BAYSAR members were happy to participate in training with the 'Off Road Unit' of Nipissing Paramedics. With this collaboration, BAYSAR will be able to augment paramedics who are called to rescue injured people in the wilderness. The issue is the need to have enough personnel who are trained for the task. Sometimes, paramedics may need additional personnel because of the distance or terrain that they would have to transport a patient. It is very difficult for a single, 6 person crew to carry a patient a distance that could be many kilometers. Having volunteers like BAYSAR members who are cross trained with the paramedic's off road equipment will help ensure that complex patient evacuations from the wilderness can be performed safely and efficiently.

07/17/2026

A big thank you for all the comments and likes regarding BAYSAR's latest search and rescue call out July 12/13. Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada If you are following BAYSAR and you like what we do you can help support our Project Lifesaver operations by simply listening to some good music. Our President, Stan French, has released two songs so far with all proceeds going to charities (One Kids Place and the Alzheimer Society) that support Project Lifesaver in North Bay and area. His songs and music videos have received international critical acclaim; so spending a few minutes watching his videos or adding his songs to your playlists will likely be an enjoyable use of your time. You can access his music videos on his website https://stanfrench.org/music and select your favourite service for streaming. You can also learn about BAYSAR's Project Lifesaver program on Stan's website or the BAYSAR website https://baysar.net/

07/13/2026

I'm happy to report that BAYSAR was involved in a successful search and rescue of a missing person today. BAYSAR was called out by the North Bay Police Service yesterday evening to start the search. We provided 8 ground searchers and since the OPP helicopter was not available, BAYSAR provided a helicopter to assist in the search with 3 crew members. Last night's search was suspended due to darkness. The search resumed this morning and BAYSAR provided 6 ground searchers. As reported in the media, the missing person was found around 1PM.

Congratulations to all involved for a job well done.

06/18/2026

Check out the fantastic arrangement BAYSAR has with the Paramedics in North Bay to be able to use their mobile clinic as a command post. Link to the news story on the BAYSAR website here

CAMP mobile clinic doubles as command post for BAYSAR (North Bay Search and Rescue) operations BAYSAR and District of Nipissing Paramedic Services team up for vital search and rescue operations An interesting partnership has developed that will benefit those involved in search and rescue exercises.....

06/02/2026

Stan French, the BAYSAR President, is again supporting our Project Lifesaver program with his new song, 'WAR, The Moral Wounds'. The song is now available for streaming. You can choose your preferred streaming platform from this link. artists.landr.com/991043823407
Lyrics, liner notes, and music video available on his website stanfrench.org. The music video is also available on his website.

Listen to WAR, The Moral Wounds by Stan French.

05/18/2026

Thanks to all the great volunteers at BAYSAR, I was able to take a month away from the day-to-day operations of BAYSAR to work on a new song. Like last year when I released 'Being a Boomer Ain't Bad', the proceeds from this new song will go to the charities that work with BAYSAR to provide Project Lifesaver. (See my website stanfrench.org for details.)

My new song is called "WAR, The Moral Wounds". The song and music video will be released May 28. I wrote the lyrics from the perspective of a combat pilot writing home to his wife. Although he continues to fly his missions he expresses how he questions fighting in an unjust war of choice and how he is being affected. The song also speaks to the destructive futility of countries starting wars of aggresion.

Here's my cover art for the song and music video. The original picture was taken on my first day of work during my deployment, Nov 1, 2007, in my office in the Role 3 Hospital of the Kandahar Airfield. I was a mental health nurse therapist. You may think that I used my mental health expertise to write the lyrics. The irony is that I wrote the original draft of the lyrics in 1975 when I was a university student and the Vietnam War had recently ended. This just seemed like the right time to dig it out and record the song.

One of my fellow musicians who provided feedback during the mixing process described the song as "haunting and powerful". With luck, a good launch for the song will help promote and support the work of BAYSAR in providing Project Lifesaver to North Bay and area. I look forward to sharing my new song with all of you on May 28!

04/19/2026

BAYSAR members are happy to be part of this deployment.

The Provincial Emergency Operations Centre is working with communities impacted by the recent flooding across Ontario.

We are providing sandbags, flood barriers & sandbagging equipment. We have deployed Ontario Corps to help Municipality of French River & The Corporation of the Township of Minden Hills.

Ontario is supporting impacted communities:
• 4k sandbags to Municipality of Central Manitoulin
• 4k sandbags to Township of Billings
• 30k sandbags to Midhurst & sandbagging machine in County of Simcoe
• Flood barriers to Township of Muskoka Lakes
• 50k sandbags to City of Orillia

Several municipal declarations of emergency remain in effect. Impacted Ontarians should:
• Follow local advisories
• Download WeatherCAN app or visit: http://weather.gc.ca
• Check https://511on.ca/ for road info
• Exercise caution around rivers, riverbanks and shorelines.