On February 16th, SDF opened its gates for our first-ever US&R Live Find training workshop open to all U.S. canine handlers! We welcomed handlers from task forces located in California, Florida and Nebraska for two days of disaster search exercises that challenged both handler and canine equally.
In the past, our training exercises have been available primarily to SDF-trained teams only due to the bandwidth of our staff, but since the National Training Center (NTC) has opened (and been rebuilt since the Thomas Fire), and our SDF army of staff and volunteers continues to grow, we have been able to increase our availability to the nation’s teams more and more.
Our network of talented and experienced trainers and handlers has also branched out during this time. We were happy to see the return of veteran US&R handlers Teresa MacPherson and Deborah Burnett, who were our instructors for the weekend. With 40+ years of combined experience as canine handlers in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) system, Teresa (Virginia Task Force 1) and Deborah (Tennessee Task Force 1) brought their expertise to the NTC for yet another memorable weekend of learning and fun.
Teresa and Deborah were last at the NTC in August of 2018, when they led a weekend workshop for Human Remains Detection teams. It was a huge success and we were excited to invite them back for a Live Find course that would enable them to work with seasoned teams who wanted to take advantage of training at the NTC with these well-respected instructors, as well as teams who needed more practice before achieving FEMA Certification.
Their wealth of knowledge enabled Teresa and Deborah to accommodate all training levels, from the newly paired team to those who’ve already been out the door on rescue missions. Most of the weekend was spent practicing how to work a canine through different search scenarios, many derived from the leaders’ own deployment lessons learned. They were able to set novice teams up for success, addressing issues and concerns along the way, as well as challenge those more experienced and really take things to the next level.
We look forward to June’s weekend workshop with Teresa and Deborah called “Back to Basics.” You can read more about it - and all the 2019 workshops - online at https://searchdogfoundation.org/workshops/.
