ATTENTION EDITOR
GENERAL DESK
AsiaNet 43781
KUALA LUMPUR, Mar. 17, 2011 /BERNAMA-AsiaNet/ --
The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF), a nonprofit, nongovernmental
organization dedicated to recruiting rescued dogs and partnering them with
firefighters to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters, deployed
Canine Disaster Search Teams to Japan last week to assist with the rescue
efforts in response to the powerful 8.9 earthquake that struck the island nation
on March 11th.
Six canines and their firefighter-handlers trained by the National Disaster
Search Dog Foundation are searching from dawn to dark, combing the wreckage in
Ofunato City on the North East coast of Japan to find survivors buried alive in
the rubble. Their base of operations is a gymnasium which California Task Force
2 shares with Virginia Task Force 1 and a British Task Force, our partners in
the search effort.
The teams are ''delayering'' areas at a time so that Task Force members can remove
layers of debris after being searched. The dogs have been divided into groups in
order to continue the search around the clock.
The job of the Search Dogs is to find live victims, conscious or unconscious, in
the debris left by the earthquake and tsunami. All rescue personnel will be
awaiting a "Bark Alert" from the dogs, letting them know there is someone in
need of rescue. Equally important is the dogs'' ability to "clear" an area, i.e.
determine that there is no one alive in the wreckage, and the rescue crews can
move on to the next site. Everything the teams have learned during their
intensive training will be put to use in saving lives.
"Every minute counts as the teams work to find people buried beneath the
rubble," says SDF Founder, Wilma Melville. "After the Haiti deployment, this is
a battle-seasoned group. If there are people still alive in the rubble, the dogs
will find them. I am so proud of every canine and handler out there combing the
debris for signs of life, and feel confident in their abilities knowing they
have had the best training possible and are at their highest skill level."
SDF is the only organization in America dedicated to partnering rescued dogs
with firefighters and providing them at no cost to fire departments to find
people trapped in the wreckage of disasters. They have rescued hundreds of dogs,
many on the brink of euthanasia, and turned them into highly skilled rescuers.
Their 71 teams have responded to 76 disasters, including the World Trade Center
attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and the Haiti earthquake- where they helped bring 12
people to safety. Each time the teams deploy they come back with crucial lessons
that are shared with all Search Teams to sharpen training techniques and tactics
and enhance emergency response in our country and abroad.
SDF will train 21 new teams in 2011 (at a cost of $15,000 per team) to be ready
for the next local, national or international disaster. SDF receives no
government funding and relies solely on support from individuals, private
foundations, and companies to provide this critical resource-at no cost to fire
departments or taxpayers.
About The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF)
The Search Dog Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to strengthen
emergency response in America by teaming rescued dogs with firefighters to find
people trapped in the wreckage of disasters. Since its founding in 1996, SDF has
rescued hundreds of dogs, many on the brink of euthanasia. They have trained 117
Search Teams, 75 of which are currently active.
For more information about the Search Teams or to make a donation to turn
rescued dogs into rescuers, help form our new 2011 teams, and provide the
highest-level training to our existing teams: visit
http://www.SearchDogFoundation.org, and follow the teams on Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com/NationalDisasterSearchDogFoundation) and Twitter
(http://twitter.com/).
SOURCE: The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF)
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
NAME: Janet Reineck, Ph.D.
Search Dog Foundation Development
Director
TEL : +1-805-966-6549
CELL: +1-805-455-6351
EMAIL: Janet@ndsdf.org
DATE OF RELEASE: 17 MARCH 2011
RELEASED BY BERNAMA MEDIA RELATIONS & EVENT MANAGEMENT (MREM)
(MA)
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