Dogs being used in search and rescue missions can be dated back to the late 1800s where they were often deployed by monks living in the snowy, dangerous St. Bernard Pass – a route through the Alps between Italy and Switzerland – to rescue lost travellers or those trapped by avalanches.
Fast forward through the years, search and rescue dogs have been trained to locate and rescue people in all sorts of conditions – from the first world war locating injured personnel on the battlefield during lulls in the fighting, to more recently being deployed in the rescue operation to find survivors after a 12-story condominium collapse in Miami. Canine Rescuers are helping search and rescue teams around the world to find lost and vulnerable people in their communities every day.
Training dogs for missions such as these can be a lengthy process, sometimes taking up to three years for the dog and handler to become ‘mission ready’.
Handlers are also required to undergo additional training, including lifting and handling their dog safely, such as over barbed wire fencing which can often be encountered whilst out on a search, and dog first aid so that handlers can treat any injuries immediately, should their dog become injured when deployed in hazardous areas.
Of course, no matter how well-trained a dog may be, they are still a dog and can sometimes get very excitable just when you might not need them to!
So how can handlers train to apply bandages correctly when a dog thinks it’s all fun and games, or wants to play tug-o-war with the bandages you are trying to apply?
At Hampshire Search & Rescue Dogs, manikins are a staple in a lot of their training, from water rescue to dog first aid!
We spoke with Harriet, a volunteer at the organisation to find out more about the training the dog handlers, and their furry colleagues go through to become mission ready…
“We use manikins in a number of ways. Firstly, we use the dog manikins to train all our volunteers in Dog first aid. This is so that we can always be ready to provide emergency first-aid at callouts and at training should our search dogs become injured. Secondly we use manikins for casualty evacuation and also for water rescue.”
“Our amazing search dogs are often deployed in woodland and dense areas where natural hazards occur. It is important that we know how to treat minor and major injuries immediately to stabilise our dogs before taking them to the vet. “
“It is good to practice first aid on a manikin before practising on an overexcited wriggling Springer Spaniel who when not injured, thinks that bandaging is a game. “
“Recently we used our dog manikin for emergency dog first-aid for our new volunteers. This really helped enhance our training and give new team members confidence and skills.”
“We enjoy being part of the RL community which stretches not only across the UK but all around the world.”
Hampshire Search & Rescue Dogs is a voluntary organisation on call round the clock providing nationally qualified search dog teams to support the emergency services when looking for vulnerable, missing people in Hampshire and neighbouring counties.
Find out more about this organisation and how to support them on their website, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
