Course Information - Mountain Rescue & Disaster Search
All Mountain Rescue Teams now advocate the use of highly trained search Dogs and Handlers in the search for lost, overdue, and injured walkers or climbers whose location is unknown.
The dogs are trained to locate the missing person by homing in on the airborne human scent emanating from the missing person. The Dog and Handler Team are trained to cover large areas of mountainous terrain with the Dog free ranging from the Handler searching for the scent carried on the wind. When this happens the dog will follow the scent to its source and then return to the Handler and give an audible indication and then will lead the Handler back to the missing person. It is at this point that the Handlers training comes into play because He or She must change from searcher into rescuer and be able to deliver technical rescue, first aid and other life saving skills until backup is provided.
The other benefit of search Dogs is there ability to search large areas of mountainous terrain in all weathers day and night with a high degree of accuracy even if the missing person is not located in that area. It allows the search managers to exclude that area with some degree of certainty and move their attentions to searching other areas. It has been stated that 1 Search Dog and Handler Team equates to approximately 20 trained search personnel in bad weather and at night this number can be increased.
Lowlands Search Dogs
The training of Lowland Search Dogs is similar in its parts to that of a Mountain Rescue Search Dog however the Handler possesses different skills.
He or She must possess a high level of first aid training, they must also undergo training for the risks more evident in an urban environment e.g. Rubbish bins, more populated environment and other distractions that may effect the dogs concentration and safety. It has been proved that Dogs adapt well to searching in urban and rural environments and constitute an integral role in any lowland search and rescue team
Avalanche Dogs
It has long been acknowledged that Dogs are the best resource when it comes to finding victims of avalanches. A dog’s nose is so sensitive that it can locate a buried victim many metres under snow and is by far the most effective method of searching avalanche fields.
When it comes to training a dog for this type of work thought should be given to the location and prevailing weather conditions the dog will be expected to work in. If the location is a high altitude winter environment all year round then the Dog can be trained to specialise in this aspect of search work. However if the winter conditions are seasonal the it could be considered as advanced training for a mountain rescue search dog. This has been achieved within the united kingdom with good results.
Tracking Dogs
A person walking away from location will leave a track which consists of rafts of human scent that are too heavy to remain airborne and will fall on or near to the footfall of the person laying the track. This combined with the scent of damaged grass and other vegetation can be followed by a Dog and Handler for quite a considerable distance depending on the prevailing weather conditions. Dogs trained for this discipline can be of use to Law Enforcement and Search and Rescue
Trailing (discriminating) Dog
Dogs trained to Scent Discriminate are able to pickup and follow a trail laid by a person when a Scent article is available to the Handler. These Dogs again are of great use to Search and Rescue and Law Enforcement. Dogs and Handlers with this training come into their own when the person is missing in a highly populated area where the need for scent discrimination is of paramount importance.
Disaster Search Dogs
A pre-ordained and rapid deployment of resources is of paramount importance to incidents requiring the location and subsequent recovery of the surviving victims of a structural collapse due to natural disasters, terrorist activity or similar traumatic events.
When considering a response to incidents of this nature, it is universally recognised by those with knowledge and experience of Search and Rescue Operations that a Disaster/Urban Search Dog trained to detect and indicate live human scent is an invaluable resource capable of operating with a speed and accuracy unlikely to be achieved by any other means.
A pre-ordained and rapid deployment of resources is of paramount importance to incidents requiring the location and subsequent recovery of the surviving victims of a structural collapse due to natural disasters, terrorist activity or similar traumatic events.
When considering a response to incidents of this nature, it is universally recognised by those with knowledge and experience of Search and Rescue Operations that a Disaster/Urban Search Dog trained to detect and indicate live human scent is an invaluable resource capable of operating with a speed and accuracy unlikely to be achieved by any other means.
