Man-Trackers & Dog Handlers in Search & Rescue : Basic Guidelines and Information - Softcover

Greg Fuller; Ed Johnson; Robert J. Koester

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1879471310 ISBN 13: 9781879471313

Publisher: dbS Productions, 2000

Synopsis

This book explores the unique combination of SAR dog teams and man-trackers, perhaps the most effective tool management has for rapid finds. The book intorduces each resource and discusses their capabilities and limitations

About this title

About the Author

The authors bring over 45 years and hundreds of searches to the topic. Each is a recognized expert in their particular field. They all have a long list of searches, publications, and speaking invitations. All three are search course developers for the Virginia Department of Emergency Services search and rescue program.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

It is a cold winter afternoon in the rolling hills of rural Virginia. AG, a 70-year-old male on medication for depression, cannot be found. Family and friends are contacted to mount an impromptu search effort. Later, an emergency call rings in the county's 911 center requesting law enforcement assistance. A tracker and an air-scent dog are quickly assigned to search around the point last seen. Just as they deploy into the field, the radio breaks squelch. The team must move to a new site where family members located a bottle of prescription medication. Investigations just determined it belongs to AG. Upon arriving at the new last known position, the search team sees several family members wandering around the clue. Nevertheless, the tracker locates one set of tracks that cannot be matched to the family members' shoe patterns. The track is sketched, photographed, measured, and sent back to base.

The tracker closely examines the tracks and determines a direction of travel heading north into the woods. The team's assignment changes to the new area. The air-scent dog takes the lead due to its ability to search a large area quickly. After 30 minutes of an open grid pattern the radio once again crackles into action. A hasty team a half-mile further north reports similar tracks. Base once again diverts the tracker and dog team to this new clue. The tracker quickly determines the measurements, shoeprint pattern, and age of the tracks match.

The tracker takes the lead and finds both the direction of travel and the trail. The team employs the leap-frogging tactic to follow the trail for several hundred yards. As they enter into an area with several dumpsters and a shed, the dog alerts. Teamwork and coordination allowed AG to be successfully located still alive in the shed.

Edition details

• Publisher: dbS Productions
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1879471310
• ISBN 13: 9781879471313
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 98