Lets go back 2 weeks. I went down to North Carolina the weekend of Sept 28-30th for a class on Human Remains Detection. It was a great class and I learned a lot and met some really great people from that area. I even managed to pick up a southern drawl in 2 days and then loose it again 2 days later, although my co-workers had a good time laughing at me for those 2 days.
Storm got exposed to the smell of human remains and WOW, did it smell. He worked his butt off down there and sadly the only nice days were the day I came down and the day I left, On Saturday it poured like all get out, and we were camping!
This weekend (yesterday), was Storms (and mine), K9 certification test. It was a really long day and the culmination of a years worth of training. In case anyone doesn't know what the test consists of, it is a 4 stage process.
1) A written test on knowledge of working your dog, and dog health and safety,
2) A day search problem consisting of an area search of 80-120 acres. You must notify the proctors of dogs alert and you have to successfully locate the victim in 3 hours or less. There is actually more to it then this, you get a briefing, then the proctors become your support members, you brief them, you go out and search, once you locate the person, you have to assess him medically and treat him, then you have to radio in your location and any necessary needs for extrication. I can honestly say that I almost failed this part, but my brilliant dog saved my butt by finding the subject before I made a fatal error. There is a waiting period of at least 45 minutes between this problem and the next one.
3) A trail problem. The trail problem consists of a person going down a trail up to a mile long and off of the trail between 20-30 feet. The dog must work the trail and find the subject. Storm did brilliantly and here I screwed up again by not bringing my full pack. They gave me a patient with a serious leg injury and I didn't have any medical supplies on my because I had left them in the car. Lesson Learned.
4) The Night Problem. After Dark you get a briefing, them brief again the proctors as support people and you must search an area up to 40 acres in an hour and a half. Storm did BRILLIANTLY. We found the victim in very short order thanks to Storms lead and we managed to pass the day despite all of my personal failures.
It was a REALLY long day, I think I left the house at 6:15 in the morning and got home about 10pm, but a most satisfying day as we (I say we because Brenda Richards, my Search team K9 Coordinator helped me pick Storm out, and the rest of my team who helped me train him), taught a rescued dog, to help rescue others. I can only hope that he and I have a long career together saving lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment