Rescue dogs put to test in Memphis

[Daryl]

Rescue dogs put to test in Memphis retrieved from http://www.thedailytimes.com/article/20090330/NEWS/303309981

COLLIERVILLE -- Storm -- a 3-year-old German shepherd -- let out a bark atop a pile of broken concrete and splintered wood -- telling his human partner that someone alive was buried in the rubble.

Storm's find came on a special training day out of many days of training -- one that made him and his handler, Anthony Jacobs of New York City, a search and rescue team certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Jacobs and Storm were among 25 canine search teams from around the country recently tested for certification at Collierville, a Memphis suburb.

To gain certification, the teams -- each made up a dog and a handler -- had to locate people posing as disaster victims buried among piles of rubble stacked up like the twisted remains of collapsed buildings.

Five of the teams didn't make it.

"They'll have the opportunity to take the test again. They're just not quite ready for that level of certification," said Charles Smith, a member of Tennessee Task Force One, one of 28 FEMA rescue teams stationed around the country.

The FEMA task forces, each made up of 80 or more experts in emergency medical care, search and rescue and supporting specialties, must be ready for full deployment with personnel and equipment within six hours of getting a disaster call.

"With every deployment, you have to take at least four disaster canines with you," Smith said.

Tennessee Task Force One, headquartered in Shelby County, conducted the canine testing on March 21 and 22, drawing handlers and their dogs from as far away as California and Florida. FEMA teams volunteer to sponsor such testing.

The testing was conducted on two piles of rubble each covering up to 2,000 square feet. Handlers were allowed to go with their dogs onto one of the piles but the other was designated as so unstable the dogs had to be sent in alone.

Four to six volunteers pretending to be victims were hidden in the rubble and the dogs, relying almost completely on scent, had 20 minutes to find them, without being sidetracked by clothes, food and other potential distraction also buried in the mess.

"The canine has to continue to hunt for live victims and not be distracted," Smith said. "If, for example, one of the canines was to alert on clothing and not a live victim, that would be an automatic failure."

It generally takes 18 months to two years to train a search and rescue dog to the level needed to pass the FEMA testing, said Smith, who has two certified male labs of his own, named Desi and Buck.

Jacobs, Storm's handler, said he could not have been prouder of his partner's performance.

"I think he's done a great job," Jacobs said, as he handed over a reward, a belt that Storm clenched happily in his teeth as they walked away.