24 Canines & Handlers Meet in Pheonix for FEMA Certification Test

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Twenty-four canines and their search specialist handlers from across the nation will be meeting this weekend in Phoenix for a FEMA disaster preparedness certification test.  The evaluation, put on by 
AZ-TF1, includes a test of canine obedience, agility, alert behavior, and handler skill. Once certified, these teams will be readily deployable to national emergencies like 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina.  
     John Dean and his dog "Ben" will be available for any members of the media interested in setting up mock rescues.  (A big pipe buried in rubble will allow a reporter and/or photojournalist to be inside for the dog to locate.)  To set up mock rescues, contact Phoenix Fire Captain John Dean at (602) 571-3838.  


What does it take to train a Disaster Search Dog? An awesome dog, 2,000 hours of training, a ton of commitment by the handler, the dog and their training group and successful completion of a nationally administered certification test. The test involves the dog searching two 15,000 sq. ft. rubble sites, finding completely buried live victims and ignoring distractions such as hamburgers, steak, clothing and dog toys. A false alert on anything except a live victim is an automatic failure.    

A handler may look at 20 to more than 100 dogs before finding a canine partner that has the qualities and drive to do this type of work. In some cases a rescued dog from a local shelter is brought into our program. One such dog, "Mac" was rescued from The Arizona Humane Society. He will be recertifying on Saturday morning. Other search dogs begin their careers as 8-week-old pups. Three such pups ("Bear," "PD" and "Gunny") from our department will be participating in their first test on Saturday morning with "Mac." Taking a dog that has been running the streets or a pup that does not even know to go outside to use the restroom and train them to search for live victims in some of the worst situations you can imagine is special, very special.     

Once certified, the dog and handler are able to deploy to international, national or local disasters with a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team such as our Task Force here in Phoenix AZ-TF1. 
AZ-TF1, manned by Phoenix firefighters, has been deployed to disasters including The World Trade Center, Katrina, Rita and Ike. Phoenix Fire Disaster Search dogs are also used locally to find missing people. These local searches can be for a missing toddler, Alzheimer patient or an injured hiker. Use the link below to learn more about AZ-TF1 disaster search dogs: http://www.arizonasearchdogs.com/meetthesearchdogs.htm



Author:Phoenix Fire Department Press Release