TEXSAR Presentation for the Travis County Kennel Club

TEXAS SEARCH AND RESCUE for the Travis County Kennel Club November 17, 2015

TEXSAR MISSION

"Committing to service-aboveself, perpetual training, and inter-agency cooperation to maintain a constant state of readiness for search, rescue, incident response and above all else, safety."

FACTS

• Established in May, 2005 • Former: United States Homeland Emergency Response Organization • All volunteer (180 core volunteers) • Year-round training (volunteers must attend 50% of annual sessions) • Volunteers must undergo background checks and complete basic training from National Incident Management System (NIMS) before deployment

NIMS

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a standardized approach to incident management developed by the Department of Homeland Security. The program was established in March of 2004, and is intended to facilitate coordination between all responders (including all levels of government with public, private, and nongovernmental organizations).

FACTS

• Deployed only by the Governor of Texas; local, state and federal law enforcement; and relief organizations • No charge to those requesting TEXSAR’s assistance • Teams currently based in Central Texas (hub); Gulf Coast; North Texas and West Texas • Volunteers being recruited all the time – consider joining today!

• Team Capabilities – Search and Rescue – K-9 Search and Recovery – Incident Management – Technical Rope Rescue – Flood and Swift Water Rescue – Wildland Fire – Disaster Recovery and Relief – Field Rehab and Resources • Partnering Assets – Dive and Underwater Recovery – Medical Deployment

WHAT TEXSAR HAS DONE

• Disaster Relief (including Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Ike and Isaac) • Central Texas Floods • Large Event Safety and Support • Missing Person Searches • Support/Rehab for Central Texas Fires • Victim Extractions and First Aid • Air Search Operations • Canine Searches • Water Searches • Shelter Operations • Community Service and Education

Volunteers Sought • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Incident Command Logistics Planning Finance Operations Fundraising Firefighting Ground Search and Rescue High Angle Rescue Swift Water Rescue Rescue Diver Boat Operator K-9 Handler K-9 Flanker Physicians and/or Nurses Paramedic Legal Advisors Meteorologists

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Crime Scene Preservation Communication Protocols CPR and First Aid Fire Behavior GIS Specialists Linguist/Translators HAZMAT Helicopter Pilot Landing Zone Management Lost Person Behavior Mantracking Wilderness Navigation Fundraising Public Relations Social Media Ninjas Network Techs Film and Photographers

TEXSAR CORE VALUES

• Integrity and Responsibility (ethics) • Fiscal Accountability (public trust) • Teamwork (mutual respect, diversity, open communication) • Excellence (highest quality service delivery) • Training (constant training and readiness) • Operations (meeting or exceeding expectations while ensuring safety for all)

DR. BEN ALEXANDER OF TEXSAR

“One well-trained canine can be more effective than 6 human search and rescue professionals. Dogs experience the world through their noses. With some 200 million scent receptors (humans have only 5 million), dogs can find graves that are several years old. Though canines are not a silver bullet, in appropriate searches, TEXSAR canines provide an excellent tool to find the missing.”

TEXSAR K-9 PROGRAM

• Nationally certified (canine/handler teams are recertified every 2 years for live find , yearly for human remains detection) • Trailing dogs – 2 teams (urban and wilderness) • Wilderness search – 3 teams (40 acres and larger) • Cadaver – 12 teams (land and water)

K-9 BENEFITS

• Portability and flexibility – K-9s can be used in: – Rubble – Large tracts of land – Under water – To find cold case remains • Acuity: – Differentiate between animal and human – 1 ppt sensitivity (parts per trillion)

TEXSAR K-9S

• TEXSAR Suitability Evaluation • Dogs must have “balance of drives” – Social (interact with a group of dogs or people) – Prey (chase or capture) – Play (toy) – Hunt (use nose when prey not visible)

TEXSAR K-9 TRAITS

• Nerve strength – “Canine’s ability to deal with or adapt to stress-producing environmental stimuli” • Reward system (positive reinforcement)

• Must be under 3 years of age

BEST BREEDS

• Labrador Retrievers

• German Shepherds • Belgian Malinois • Border Collies • Golden Retrievers

FEMA & TEXSAR STANDARDS

“Certification includes proper command control, agility skills, a focused bark alert to indicate a live find, and a willingness to persist to search for live victims in spite of possible extreme temperatures and animal, food and noise distractions. The canine must also be confident enough to search independently and must be able to negotiate slippery surfaces, balance wobbly objects underneath his feet and go through dark tunnels.”

K-9 HANDLERS

“In the most basic terms, the search dog handler must support the search dog at all times on a search and place the dog in the most likely position to succeed.”

Angela Eaton Snovack Barron’s Guide to Search and Rescue Dogs

THANK YOU! TEXSAR INFORMATION: CAROLYN.APPLETON@TEXSAR.ORG OR KAREN.KNOX@TEXSAR.ORG

TEXSAR K-9 TEAM LEADER: BEN.ALEXANDER@TEXSAR.ORG

P.O. Box 171258 Austin, Texas 78717 www.texsar.org