The Canadian Forces School of Survival and Aeromedical Training in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada, was established in 1996. It provides instruction to aircrew on life support equipment, survival and aviation physiology.

History

The Wilbur Rounding Franks building was officially opened in September 1996 as the new home of the Canadian Forces School of Survival and Aeromedical Training. It is located on West Street, 17 Wing and is dedicated to the memory of

Group Captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

Wilbur Rounding Franks, OBE, CD, in honour of his numerous contributions to the field of

aerospace medicine Aviation medicine, also called flight medicine or aerospace medicine, is a preventive medicine, preventive or occupational medicine in which the patients/subjects are pilots, aircrews, or astronauts. The specialty strives to treat or prevent cond ...

. The ceremony officiated by the Surgeon General, Maj Gen Wendy Arlene Clay, the School Commandant, Maj KC Glass and the Grandson of Dr Franks, Mr Hugh Franks. It is a combination of the Canadian Forces Survival Training School from Edmonton and the amalgamation of three Aeromedical Training units from 426 Squadron Trenton, 404 Squadron Greenwood and Canadian Forces School of Aeromedical Training in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. The Altitude Chamber Facility was originally designed by Guardite Corporation in September 1954 and was installed in the Chamber Annex in Cold Lake under Contract #446 in 1955. In 1981, it was moved to the Canadian Forces School of Aeromedical Training in Griesbach, Edmonton. The chamber was then moved to 17 Wing Winnipeg, when the school combined with Canadian Forces Survival School to become the Canadian Forces School Survival and Aeromedical Training, 17 Wing Winnipeg in 1996. The Recompression Chamber was originally installed at Canadian Forces School of Aeromedical Training, Griesbach, CFB Edmonton in 1984, to provide immediate medical assistance to staff and students who suffered altitude induced

decompression sickness Decompression sickness (DCS; also called divers' disease, the bends, aerobullosis, and caisson disease) is a medical condition caused by dissolved gases emerging from Solution (chemistry), solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during D ...

. The chamber was moved to its current location at 17 Wing Winnipeg in 1996. While in Winnipeg, its use also included several civilian medical cases due to the chambers' unique benefits of hyperbaric medicine. In 2008, the CAF aeromedical program changed its training method and with the risk of decompression sickness being virtually eliminated, the hyperbaric chamber was not required any further. On November 8, 2011, it received approval to cease dive operations, decommission and remove the chamber, with final removal occurring on 24 Jun 2013. SERE Flt is responsible to handle all outdoor survival training. This includes Air Operations Survival - Land (AOS-L), Air Operations Survival - SERE (AOS-SERE) and Air Operations Survival - Arctic (AOS-AA). AOS-L and AOS-SERE are both conducted at Springer Lake, within Nopiming Provincial Park. AOS-AA is conducted at Crystal City, Manitoba, part of the Arctic Training Centre (ATC), just north of Resolute Bay.

Gallery

CFSSAT Hypobaric Chamber.jpg, Hypobaric Chamber CFSSAT Hyperbaric Chamber.jpg, Hyperbaric Chamber

References

{{coord, 49.896111, N, 97.251847, W, display=title Canadian Armed Forces education and training establishments Schools in Winnipeg Survival training