Search and Rescue Dogs

Because the work we recently concluded at the Pentagon is considered an on-going criminal investigation, I cannot write to you of details, or even generalities, pertaining to our search. I can, however, tell you about the types of situations encountered in urban disaster. Some of these situations pertain to what was done at the Pentagon, some not, and I cannot tell you which were or were not, but all are real situations.

Urban disaster searching is done 24 hours a day. Often it is done in two 12 hour shifts, sometimes in three 8 hour shifts. Here are some of the "stressors" that dog and handler will encounter:

Organizational chaos: While there are plans for every type of disaster, no one can fully anticipate the conditions of any particular search. In addition, the more departments, agencies, etc., involved, the greater the coordination effort which leads (inevitably) to delays, and these can be mind and body numbing - you arrive all fired up to work and have to wait.

Physical safety requirements: These vary with each disaster. For example, in Oklahoma City we wore helmets, filter face masks (the kind with two projections for filters), gloves, knee padding, and our uniforms (it was a big joke trying to do directional work from any distance with a dog as they couldn't tell us apart unless we moved enough that they recognized their handlers body language). Sometimes we have had to wear body enveloping suits, as reported in the Washington Post about some work at the Pentagon, with accompanying boots and filter face masks. In those situations handler and dog must be decontaminated after every turn in a contaminated area. Chemicals for the handler, dish washing liquid for the dog. Can be challenging for the dog if it is cold out.

Ambient disaster noise: You've seen the pictures from NYC, all the big equipment (cranes, front end loaders, scoops, "bob cat" mini front end loaders), what the TV networks don't do is let you hear the noise -- it can be deafening. If you work the night shift or are in an enclosed space (shaded) you get the additional noise of generators (for the high powered lights). This is a constant stressor for dog and handler. It gets to the dogs sooner or later. Also makes communicating with the dog difficult.

Ambient disaster air: To a point, all urban disasters have a "disaster smell." It is the concrete dust that is the base smell. If you are working a jet plane crash you have the jet fuel smell. Other smells figure in, remember all those big pieces of equipment? The diesel exhaust smell is prevalent. We all know not to let our dogs be in exhaust fumes too long because it deadens their sense of smell, but sometimes you have to work through it anyway. Additional factors can be rotting food (stores, restaurants), dead animals (pets, farm animals for some plane crashes), human objects (bedding, furniture, and dirty clothes in houses), decomposing humans.

Human remains: The human body is fragile - REALLY fragile. In building collapse a human caught between two slabs of concrete is often reduced to a wet spot, shreds of long pieces of bone, and a little white gooey stuff (bone). Remember those grade school science lessons? The body is a few minerals you can buy at the hardware store and several buckets of water. Ninety-nine percent of the jet crashes I have worked resulted in the humans ending up in small, small pieces. About 2" to 18" maximum, with the occasional foot, finger, or scalp surviving whole. the impact of a jet is SHATTERING, even to soft tissue. Whether spread out or concentrated, working a jet crash for remains is slow detailed work.

Time: Over time the organic components of rubble in a disaster decompose and change radically. Scent builds up in small, confined areas. Body fluids and other fluids, following gravity, spread and so their scent is in a wider area. This leads to a very complex, layered scent picture for the dog.

Thanks for your interest and attention, not to mention all your good wishes, prayers, and the help you have given me.