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TALES OF A FEMA LEVEL-1
ADVANCED DISASTER K9 RECERTIFICATION
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'Bacco' March 14, 2007
Bacco's FEMA Recertification
by Gail McCarthy
I am thrilled to announce that my Czech German Shepherd, Bacco, passed
his FEMA Advanced Recertification this past weekend. My fellow FEMA
teammate, Janet Merrill, and her Malinois, Chai, also passed their
Recertification. The Test, or Certification Evaluation (CE) as it is now
called, was sponsored by the Ohio Task Force 1, so Janet and I had to
fly out to Dayton, Ohio, to take the test. The weather predications for
the weekend were horrid -- heavy rains, thunderstorms, tornados, Yikes!!
-- but the skies were only ominously cloudy on the morning of our Test.
The FEMA Advanced Test is conducted on two rubble piles, each
approximately 6,000 - 15,000 sq. feet in size and 6'- 10' in height. The
rubble debris normally consists of concrete, wood, mixed material,
partially or completely collapsed structures and, in our case, was made
up of concrete pillars lying all-a-jumble and interlaced with large
voids and slippery steel I-beams. Each testing canine team had 20
minutes to search each pile and to locate up to 4 concealed victims in
each pile, any one of whom could be buried deep down into the rubble,
creating complicated, diffuse scent problems for the dog to work out.
There also could be a variety of distractions in each pile and, in our
case, I believe that the CE Evaluators hid food, clothing and one live
cat in the pile!!! The first rubble I was assigned to search was called
the "Limited Access" pile, which means that I was not allowed up on the
rubble pile until my dog made his first find and barked a minimum of
three barks. Once the dog barked, the handler is permitted to access the
rubble to mark the alert location and to restart the canine. Relying on
the dog's indication, the handler is required to pinpoint exactly where
the dog has made its find immediately upon reaching the dog. If the
handler is not able to pinpoint immediately, the handler will be asked
to leave the rubble pile and to restart the dog anew. If the handler is
able to pinpoint, then the handler may remain within a five-foot radius
of the alert location after the dog is released to search for additional
subjects. When Bacco made his first find, I definitely had to hustle as
he had sailed up and far out onto the pile when I initially released
him...and he made his first find not only way across the whole pile but
deep down into the rubble as well. Geez, you'd think he'd make it easy
on me for once by indicating up on top of the rubble like most normal
dogs do! :):):) I had no idea where he was and I had to follow the sound
of his barking to find him. As I slithered down into some deep voids to
reach him, I prayed that he would not stop barking until I found him!!!
Luckily Bacco continued to bark and, after finally reaching him, I
marked the victim location and restarted him. Bacco quickly found
another victim....and, again, it was from deep in the rubble. Argghh!!
After marking this location, I spent a few minutes more searching for
additional subjects, but I could tell from my dog's behavior that he had
found them all and I called the test at 12 minutes. It was risky to do
that because I could have missed a concealed victim....but I felt
confident that Bacco had covered the pile well and that Bacco would have
locked on to scent if it were there to find. The next pile I was asked
to search is called the "Full Access" pile, and, as its name suggests,
the rubble pile is completely accessible to the dog and to the handler.
Bacco quickly found two concealed subjects on this pile....and then, for
the next 9 minutes, I asked my dog to keep searching, and searching, and
searching, and searching for what *I* thought was one more victim! Now,
nothing Bacco did indicated the presence of any more subjects on the
pile. In fact, had I been reading my dog properly, I would have called
the test after finding the second subject. But *I* was convinced that
there *must* be a third subject hidden somewhere in that pile. Well,
BAD handler, GREAT dog....because, even though I kept asking Bacco to
keep searching for someone that was not on the pile, Bacco graciously
kept searching with me and did not false alert (which is something that
can happen when you "push" your dog to perform). Moral is...trust the
trained dog and NOT what your brain says!!! :):)
All in all, it was a great test. Bacco found all four subjects
concealed in the pile and he did it with grace and courage and skill.
As this certification is good for three years and as Bacco will be
8-years old this coming May, this will be Bacco's last FEMA test. And
so, while he has many more years left under his collar for "real"
searches, this was a wonderful way to end his testing career! :):)
Gail McCarthy has been a SAR K9 handler
for over 16yrs. She has certified numerous dogs of various breeds
(including Shepherds and Dobermans) as FEMA disaster SAR K9's,
wilderness live find, and cadaver detection K9's, is
the founder and current president of MARK-9 (Massachusetts Rescue and
Recovery K9 Unit - http://www.mark9.us/)
as well as being certified by FEMA as a K9 evaluator.
To read her
complete bio go here:
http://www.mark9.us/profiles/mccarthy.htm
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Czech/Slovak/DDR Lineage
