Visit www.oceap.ca/events for details

Celebrating 20 years serving the Northumberland area including Port Hope and Cobourg.

Training and Events

Cram a Cruiser Dec 2025

Field Training – Nov 2025. Urban search training in Grafton.

OCEAP attending the Port Hope and Cobourg Santa Claus parades.

April Field Training – In the rain, of course…

The Team at the annual Float Your Fanny Down the Ganny raft race in Port Hope – April 2026

OCEAP was proud to receive the 2025 Port Hope Community Service Civic Award,

Special Refresher Day

OCEAP held a special refresher day to allow members to build their skills. Trainers covered proper procedures for completing their Duty books, practice of radio handling and protocols and basic compass skills.

Mock Evacuation Exercise

Northumberland County and the Municipality of Port Hope held a mock evacuation center including 25+ simulated evacuees. A great training exercise for OCEAP and our partners.

Port Hope downtown Trick or Treat event

OCEAP members supported the Town of Port Hope and the HBIA in managing road closures to allow 1,000+ children to dress up and visit the various downtown businesses.

October Field Training Day

Blue Jays Watch Party in Port Hope

Game 2 of the World Series was up on the big screen at Memorial Park in Port Hope. OCEAP members were on site to help support the event.

Night Training Exercise – Cobourg

It is mandatory that all OCEAP volunteers undergo regular training to ensure that they maintain the skills required to effectively search for a missing person. Night training takes these skills to a new level but is critical as often missing persons may not be reported until later in the day when they fail to return as planned.

A busy summer for OCEAP volunteers helping out a numerous events in Port Hope.

Movies in the Park was a big hit in the community and our members enjoyed it as well!

Evacuation Center setup training.

And we can’t forget all of the work our volunteers put in at the annual Highland Games – running First Aid, Security and the Beverage Tent as a Team fundraiser.

Float your Fanny Down the Ganny – Port Hope

Another great year for the Annual Float your Fanny raft race. OCEAP members provided assistance along the course route deploying both of our Command Posts.

Trillium Venture 2025

OCEAP participated in this exercise alongside the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves in the Ganaraska Forest. The exercise had OCEAP crews leading groups of reservists performing a ground search of the area. This was a great opportunity for OCEAP to work with other groups.

May Field – Night Training

OCEAP members perform night training exercises twice a year. It is important that our members feel comfortable in performing searches in all kinds of environments, all kinds of weather and in various lighting conditions.

As we come out of the VERY snowy winter season, OCEAP volunteers are once again out in the classroom and field ensuring our SAR skills stay fresh. OCEAP members may conduct ground search and rescue operations in a multitude of conditions – snow, rain, hot or cold. Members need to ensure that their deployment kit is ready and that their mental attitude is ready.

Three of our OCEAP members took the Polar Plunge to fundraise for Special Olympics. Other OCEAP members pledged support and cheered them on. A great opportunity to team build with our emergency services partners – Police and Fire from Cobourg and Port Hope.

SPRING RECRUITING DRIVE is now underway. New recruit classes in April and May.

September saw the OCEAP Search & Rescue team out in the ravine area of Port Hope for our semi-annual night exercise. Members get an opportunity to practice their SAR skills under the cover of darkness. It becomes quite evident to the members why the search Probability of Detection (POD) drops by 50%.

The night exercise contained a number of medical exercises as shown above but also a series of evidence searches as shown below.

October training brought a number of search and medical scenarios for our members in the area of Town Park Recreation Centre in Port Hope.

New defib training unit and CPR trainer added to the medical scenarios for more realistic exercises.

May 1st was First Responders Day in Ontario. It was a great evening to recognize our volunteers and the countless hours they dedicate to our Community. We reflected on the 2023 year and we rolled out a number of administrative and uniform changes for 2024. Thanks to all for your service!

April 20th – New Recruit Class and Night Training

OCEAP welcomed nine new members at our New Recruit class held at the Port Hope Police Community Room on Saturday. The members underwent their Basic Training which includes a classroom session to understand the key elements of SAR. This is followed by an introduction to the field skills.

Night training is fundamental to the OCEAP SAR operations. Our members undergo two night training events each year to ensure that they are capable of meeting the unique challenges of night operations.

March Field Training

In field training keeps our member’s skills sharp! Well done to all.

OCEAP held an indoor classroom training day for our members. Our thanks to the SJA Therapy Dog program, the Alzheimer’s Society and the Port Hope Police for presenting. Also our thanks to two of our dedicated members who shared their knowledge and expertise with the Team. Well done!