Presented by: Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs 2011 Utah Sheriffs’ Association Conference     About Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs Search and Rescue that makes “Sense” Techniques when Deploying.

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Transcript Presented by: Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs 2011 Utah Sheriffs’ Association Conference     About Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs Search and Rescue that makes “Sense” Techniques when Deploying.

Presented by:
Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs
2011 Utah Sheriffs’ Association Conference
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About Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs
Search and Rescue that makes “Sense”
Techniques when Deploying Search Dogs
What can RMRD do for you?
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Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs (RMRD) is a
non-profit organization of individuals in Utah
who donate their time and resources to assist in
Search and Rescue operations around the
country.
RMRD is the oldest and largest canine search
and rescue group in the state of Utah.
Established in 1980
 Current membership is 27
 Members span from Utah County up to Box Elder
County
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RMRD trains canines for Tracking, Wilderness,
Avalanche, Disaster, Urban, HRD/Cadaver
and Water searches.
Each dog/handler team must meet rigid
standards in air scent search, tracking, canine
obedience, mountaineering skills, first aid, and
search strategies for a lost or injured person.
Each dog/handler team must pass an
Operational Wilderness Test prior to going on
any search.
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RMRD can only be dispatched by the local law
enforcement agency.
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RMRD is self-insured
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You have overall jurisdiction for all searches, and
RMRD is a volunteer origination that offers their
services to these departments.
1 million liability coverage
RMRD is on call 24 hours a day
 1-800-327-DOGS (3647)
 www.RockyMountainRescueDogs.com
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RMRD currently has 10 certified and
deployable dog teams
 6 Specialized Operational
 Advanced trained
 4 Operational
 Wilderness capable
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RMRD has 10 candidate dog teams currently
training for Operational status
 Average training time prior to becoming operational
ready is 1-2 years
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RMRD has assisted in
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Lost Boy Scout Uinta Mountain Search (2004)
Bloomington Lake Search (8/18/2007)
Missing BYU Student Search (9/7/2007)
Emery County Search (11/24/2008)
Canyon lands Search (5/10/2008)
Farmington Search (6/13/2009)
Uinta Search 62 year old man (7/14/2009)
West Wendover 66 year old man (10/7/2009)
Antelope Island, 32 year old man (2/27/2010)
Mountain View Wyoming Search (5/10/2010)
Mill Hollow Search, 54 year old man (7/18/2010)
Dushene County Search, 82 year old man (10/11/2010)
West Wendover 16 year old female (3/5/2011)
Grand County, 37 year old male (7/11/2011)
Daggett County, 12 year old male (8/13/2011)
-- still missing
-- body recovered 1 week later
-- body recovered 1 week later
-- remains found 4/25/2009
--remains found 3/18/2009
-- alive, found 24 hours later
--alive, found 37 hours later
-- RMRD located
-- body recovered 1 day later
-- body recovered 1 year later
-- body recovered 1 week later
-- alive, found 4 hours into search
-- body recovered that day
-- still missing
-- alive, found next morning
Germans
Blondes
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Touch
Taste
Sight
Smell
Hearing
• Only 2 of the 5 senses are primarily used
by humans when searching
•Smell
•Sight
•Hearing
•Taste
• 4 of the 5 senses are primarily used by
canines when searching
•Humans have 5 million olfactory receptors in their nose.
•A dog has more than 220 million olfactory receptors in its
nose
What Humans Smell
•Chocolate Chip Cookies
What Dogs smell
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Sugar
Brown sugar
Butter
Eggs
Vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
Baking soda
Salt
Chocolate chips
20 humans
30
20minutes
human
15
20 minutes
humans
7 minutes
12454 sq ft.
7100 sq ft
3500 Sq ft
1 K-9 Unit can do the same work as 400
people.
And it is easier, quicker and safer to
deploy an Avalanche Rescue Dog Team
than large groups of people.
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The tendency is to call in dogs after an initial
primary sweep.
“Didn’t want to bother you” Excuse
Fast Deployment = Fresher Scent
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Fast Deployment = Less Human Contamination
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Trails/Area mainly contain the subject’s scent early on
Scent is not disturbed
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Longer the time = diluted scent
Wind, rain, heat, etc.
Higher probability a tracking dog is able to
determine a direction of travel.
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Tracking
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Tracking
Wilderness
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Tracking
Wilderness
Avalanche
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Tracking
Wilderness
Avalanche
Water
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Tracking
Wilderness
Avalanche
Water
Cadaver
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Tracking
Wilderness
Avalanche
Water
Cadaver
Urban
Tracking
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Wilderness
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RMRD Level III Certified (6)
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RMRD Level II Certified (4)
NASAR Level II Certified (3)
Disaster
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Former FEMA certified canine (1)
Avalanche
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RMRD Level III Certified (5)
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RMRD Level III Certified (2)
NASAR Level III Certified (2)
TTT/Georgia K-9 Certified (4)
Cadaver Recovery
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NASAR Cadaver Certified (2)
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Scent Articles establish an identity
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Match game:
 For Canines: Scent to Source
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Gives Canines a single point of reference
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One Scent = one person
A contaminated scent article can confuse the
dog, thus giving the dog the impression that
any scent on that article is fair game to find.
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Plastic bags “trap” the scent inside the bag
Paper bags are permeable and allow outside scents
in.
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Scent Articles gives the canine the blueprint of
subject
Medical conditions
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Medication
Mental state
Anger
 Fear
 Adrenaline
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Physical
Diabetic
 Autistic
 Cancer
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Wind is the best ally when using canines
Scent comes to the dog, rather the dog to the
scent
Can clear large areas based off wind alone
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Wind is the best ally when using canines
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Scent comes to the dog, rather the dog to the scent
Can clear large areas based off wind alone
Hot vs Cold Weather
 Heat = scent rises
 Cold= scent pools on the ground
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Ideal times to track: early morning or late evening
Dry vs Moist Conditions
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Dry doesn’t hold scent
Wet environment traps scent
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Air currents
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Ideal air current: 3-7 mph
Ground vs Atmospheric
Scent Pockets
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Valleys and canyons
 up at night, down during the day
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Vegetation
 Scent sticks to it.
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Subject hotspots
 High concentration of scent
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Ability to track canine movement
See real time progress
Can see other dog team locations
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Able to adjust coverage accordingly
Ability to evaluate what has been covered and
what needs to be on the fly
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Probability of Detection (P.O.D.)
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Higher confidence using a Canine Team
 Bringing more than just sight and hearing to the search
 Scent unveils a subject that is out of plain sight
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High confidence of area elimination
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Impact of Searches
Searches focus many deputies on one situation
 Time and Recourses are shifted away from the day
to day duties of a department.
 Searches cost money, the longer the search goes on
the more expensive it is.
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RMRD is a free resource for any Law
Enforcement Agency to use
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RMRD Provides trained professionals
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All teams are AHA First Aid and CPR certified
8 members NASAR certified SARTECH II
3 members NASAR certified as Evaluators for
SARTECH II testing
1 member NASAR certified as a Lead Evaluator for
SARTECH II testing
RMRD canines are trained to hotload.
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Helicopter, watercraft, ATV, snowmobiles
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Teams are self reliant working under ICS
guidelines
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Prepared for 72 hour deployment for themselves and
their canines
RMRD utilizes up to date technology
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Radios
GPS units and tracking collars
Computers/Mapping software
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RMRD provides daily operational reports.
RMRD provides a Debrief Packet/After Action
Report to the agency in charge.
RMRD is another tool and resource you can use
in your searches.
So that others may live……