In 1996 OVERT went operational providing strictly ground search and rescue services. Since that time OVERT has evolved to a broad scope of capabilities. With that evolution, OVERT has begun to respond to a greater variety of situations.
OVERT’s activities can generally be broken down into two categories: Deployments, and Community Events.
OVERT deployments are request for assistance during an emergency situation. These types of operations can very from missing persons searches to traffic control during an evacuation.
OVERT participates in a variety of community events throughout the year. Our function during these events varies from traffic control, to child-find services. Also during these appearances we work to educate the public about the OVERT and to raise the profile of our organization.
Over the years OVERT has been frequently deployed at the request of a variety of primary response agencies in the Greater Toronto Area. Many of these operations involve the search for missing and/or potentially abducted persons. Our goal in these deployments is to reunite the missing person with their family and loved ones.
The emotional toll that is brought upon the family during a missing person search can be profound. OVERT and its members are very mindful of this fact, as such OVERT takes great care to safe guard family privacy and will not release specific details relating to a specific missing persons search.
Beyond missing person searches OVERT also provides community response during other large scale emergencies. Incidents such as floods, power failures, public health emergencies are proud examples of the diverse set of responses OVERT is capable of providing. OVERT regularly trains with Emergency Management Organizations to provide assistance during a large scale disaster or evacuation.
For an up to date list of our deployment activity, please visit our Facebook page.
OVERT remains heavily involved in the community even when not responding to emergency situations. Our philosophy of communities helping communities extends beyond emergency response.
Canada Day at Lakeview Park
Uxbridge Fall Fair