“Picture is of K9, Jesse P searching a rubble pile in Lincoln Nebraska May 2015 in hopes of achieving his National Certification. "
FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Teams:
In the early 1990’s after the 1985 Earthquake in Mexico it was determined that the United States needed to be better prepared in the event of a major disaster. The United States Government created rescue teams to deal with operations involving collapsed buildings. In 1992 the rescue team concept was incorporated into the Federal Response Plan and became part of the National Response Framework.
Today there are 28 FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Teams (US&R) who respond to a variety of disasters across the United States. Most of the Teams are sponsored by a local Fire Departments, but a few like New Mexico Task Force 1 (NMTF1) are made up of volunteers from Fire Departments, Police and civilians.
Today each US&R Team is required to have 8 certified K9 Teams. However, that number is in the process of being reduced to 6 certified teams because of how difficult it is to maintain that many K9 Teams. (On average it takes nearly two years to train a US&R K9)
The current US&R K9 teams are “Live Scent” which means they detect “Live” humans only. Since time is of the essence, as soon as the area has been deemed safe from power, gas etc. the K9 Teams are deployed. K9 Teams can search a vast area in a very short time which allows First Responders to focus their rescue efforts.
K9 Alert:
When a K9 has alerted (Repeated barking in an isolated area), the handler will attempt to make verbal contact with the possible victim. If no contact is made, the K9 handler will notify the Search Team Manager (STM) that a Technical Search Specialist (TSS) will need to be brought in to confirm the victim is alive and exact location of the victim prior to deploying Rescue Personnel.
Training so others may live!
We at Krazy Beaver Tools are grateful for the men and women who work diligently training these Elite US&R K9s. We are also grateful for those that have trained and worked with Jesse P. Thank you.
(Above) Jesse P. and Jason Searching a “Slash Pile” in Nebraska during a Certification May 31, 2015 (Below) Jesse P. ready to play ball!
