The Canadian Forces School of Survival and Aeromedical Training in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,60 ...

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, 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 is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

Wilbur Rounding Franks,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, 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 or occupational medicine in which the patients/subjects are pilots, aircrews, or astronauts. The specialty strives to treat or prevent conditions to which aircr ...

. 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 Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

. 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 Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg , (CFB Winnipeg) is a Royal Canadian Air Force base located within the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Co-located at the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, CFB Winnipeg is home to many flight opera ...

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

. 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 A diving chamber is a vessel for human occupation, which may have an entrance that can be sealed to hold an internal pressure significantly higher than ambient pressure, a pressurised gas system to control the internal pressure, and a supply of ...

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 Nopiming Provincial Park is a natural provincial park in Manitoba, Canada, located on the southeast side of the province, along the boundary with Ontario. The area was designated a provincial park by the Government of Manitoba in 1976. The par ...

. AOS-AA is conducted at

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, part of the Arctic Training Centre (ATC), just north of

Resolute Bay Resolute Bay is an Arctic waterway in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Parry Channel on the southern side of Cornwallis Island. The hamlet of Resolute is located on the northern shore of the bay with Resolute Bay Air ...

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