West Virginia K-9 Search and Rescue, Inc.

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We are an all volunteer professional canine search and rescue team.  

WVK9SAR is a Charter Member of the West Virginia Search & Rescue Council, Inc.

Founded in 1988, West Virginia K-9 Search and Rescue, Inc.

Prospective Members

 

Canine search and rescue draws people from all walks of life and occupations.  If you are a “dog person”, you may have much to learn about survival and navigation in the outdoors.  You may have to unlearn many habits and attitudes that are fostered by the “sport” of dogs.  If you are an outdoors person or public safety professional, you must be willing to invest a great deal of time in learning about dog behavior and developing a rapport with your canine.  A search dog is not just another “search tool” – she is your partner and will only work with you, never “for” you.

 

If, after truthfully answering the questions below, you and your family are willing to commit the time, effort and funds necessary for you to become a volunteer search and rescue professional, please contact us about joining our Class of 2011 which is scheduled to start in January 2011.

 

  • Am I willing to undergo specialized training for search work?  Am I willing to learn skills that are unrelated to dog handling, but necessary for a professional rescuer?

 

  • Do I enjoy learning with people from different backgrounds and with different levels of expertise?  Can I work well with a group to accomplish a shared goal?

 

  • Will I take responsibility for my own progress?  Will I show initiative in developing my own skills through study and practice?  Will I work with my dog outside of team training and recruit live subjects to practice with me?

 

  • Am I interested in search and rescue work even if I do not have a canine partner?  If I do not already have a dog, am I (and my family) willing to welcome one into our home as a family member and commit to her care for her lifetime – whether or not she succeeds as a search dog?

 

  • Are my lifestyle and job flexible enough to allow me to leave for a search occasionally?  Will I get up at 3 a.m. for a search?  Will I drive for 3 or 4 hours to respond to a search?

 

  • Do I have a high level of tolerance for physical discomfort, including heat and cold, being damp or soaked?  Do I enjoy the outdoors?  Do I like to spend my leisure time in the woods, on foot?

 

  • Am I physically and mentally prepared to spend long hours out in the worst weather, often at night, searching through difficult terrain?

 

  • Will I react appropriately when the individual is found, alive or deceased, whether I found them or not, or if the person I was looking for is safe in bed somewhere?

 

  • Am I mentally prepared to discover a deceased subject?  Am I prepared to reward my dog happily when she leads me to a deceased person?

 

  • Can I afford, and am I willing, to spend my own money for search equipment, gas, outside training courses, etc.?

 

  • Will I spend one or two years training weekly before my dog and I are ready to participate in a search together?

 

  • Do I understand that search and rescue training is a continuous process even after the required certification level is achieved?

 

  • Will I accept the judgment of the training committee concerning my own abilities and those of my dog?  Will I take instruction and direction from a senior handler concerning training methods?  Will I travel out of state in order to become certified?

 

  • Can I gracefully take orders from incident commanders and senior handlers?  Can I hold my ground calmly when my judgment dictates that I must make myself heard?

 

Volunteer search and rescue is not glamorous.  It is not a way to become famous.  Success, if it happens at all, does not happen overnight.  Search and rescue is hard work.  It will challenge you physically, mentally and emotionally.  Most of all search and rescue is not a hobby; it is a way of life.

 

In order to prepare you and your canine for search and rescue work, the following classes and certifications are recommended.

 

 

 

Canine Handler and Field Team Member

 The following classes are FREE and found at:  http://training.fema.gov/IS/

·       IS-.5a   An Introduction to Hazardous Materials

·       IS-100a  Introduction to Incident Command System.

·       IS-700a  National Incident Management System (NIMS).

Canine

·       Certificate of Completion for a basic obedience class.

·       Canine Good Citizen Test.

www.akc.org 

 

 

 

There are fees for the following classes.

·       Swiftwater Awareness - Please contact your local fire department.

·       First Aid/CPR/AED and Blood borne Pathogens - Please contact the Red Cross and American Heart Association

·       NASAR Introduction to Search and Rescue. 
      This may be taken as a 16 hour class with a test at the end, or you may purchase the book from NASAR and take the official SARTECH III exam online - there is a FEE for this class.  www.nasar.org

 

 

 

National Association Search and Rescue

The President's Volunteer Service Award

  

24 Hour Dispatch Statewide Response
(304) 558-5380
West Virginia Division of Homeland Security 
and Emergency Management

 

 

Kanawha Putnam Emergency Planning Committee

 

 

 

A Non-profit, Charitable 501c3 Corporation.  
Donations are tax deductible.

 
To contact us:


WVK9SAR
Post Office Box 535
Charleston, West Virginia  25322-0535

E-Mail:  West Virginia K-9 Search and Rescue

 
 

 

Copyright ©1988-2010 by West Virginia K-9 Search and Rescue, Inc. No part of this document (text or graphics) may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of West Virginia K-9 Search and Rescue, Inc.  Contact:  webmaster@wvk9sar.org