The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria (JRCC Victoria) is a rescue coordination centre operated by the Royal Canadian Navy and manned by personnel of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).
Contents
JRCC Victoria is responsible for coordinating the Search and Rescue (SAR) response to air and marine incidents within the Victoria Search and Rescue Region (SRR). This region includes the land masses of British Columbia and Yukon, as well as the adjacent marine waters of British Columbia. As a secondary role, JRCC Victoria coordinates requests by other levels of government for federal SAR resources. These secondary requests are commonly made for humanitarian reasons that fall within provincial or municipal jurisdiction (e.g., searching for missing hunters, hoisting injured hikers and medical evacuation when civilian agencies are unable due to weather or location).
Mission
"The national search and rescue (SAR) objective is to prevent loss of life and injury through search and rescue alerting, responding and aiding activities using public and private resources."
JRCC Victoria coordinates and controls Search and Rescue Units (SRUs) within its area of responsibility. The centre serves as a communications hub and primary point of contact for the coordination and direction of rescue units and on-scene commanders in order to meet the national objective in the safest and most effective manner possible.
Command and control
The Minister of National Defence (Canada) has overall responsibility for the operation of the coordinated federal SAR system with primary (full-time) SAR resources provided by the Canadian Forces and Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Within the Canadian Forces, SAR policy and procedures are a Search and Rescue Secretariat responsibility with each JRCC being operationally responsible to the senior military officer in their region. JRCC Victoria is responsible also to the Commander of Maritime Forces Pacific/Joint Task Force (Pacific).
Personnel
JRCC Victoria is staffed by personnel from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)/Canadian Forces and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) 24 hours a day, year-round. Duty staff are:
Two Maritime Coordinators commonly referred to as the "Marine Coordinator" (experience CCG officers);
One Aeronautical Coordinator commonly referred to as the "Air Coordinator" (experienced RCAF Pilot or Air Combat Systems Officer); and
One Assistant Aeronautical Coordinator or "Air Assistant" (experienced RCAF Aerospace Controllers or Search and Rescue Technicians).
Air and Marine controllers are collectively called "mission coordinators". All JRCC personnel function together as a team to ensure that response to distress incidents is coordinated effectively. The military administration is carried out by the OIC (Officer in Charge) and the Chief Clerk (any elemental uniform.) The Coast Guard is done by the Senior Coast Guard member and Coast Guard Base Admin Support.
Location
JRCC Victoria is located on Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt), within Greater Victoria, British Columbia. JRCC Victoria ties into the Canadian Mission Control Center (CMCC), Nav Canada, and the Canadian Coast Guard Marine Communications and Traffic Services alerting system.
Geographic area
The Victoria Search and Rescue Region (SRR) comprises the land masses of British Columbia and Yukon, as well as a portion of the north-eastern Pacific ocean. It is approximately 490,000 square miles (1,300,000 km2) of mainly mountainous terrain, with another 275,000 square miles (710,000 km2) of ocean and 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of coastline. The oceanic area extends westward from the British Columbia coast approximately 900 miles (1,400 km) in the south and 350 miles (560 km) in the north.