Search and Rescue Certified Emergency Response Training (K9 SAR CERT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to training, supporting and promoting the activation of certified volunteer K9 teams for search and rescue missions.
Meeting a Critical Need
Throughout the United States, specially-trained dog and handler teams stand ready to assist in life-threatening emergencies. These volunteers are critical in the aftermath of large-scale natural and man-made disasters. In smaller-scale rescue missions, these volunteers lend their specialized skills and local knowledge to locate missing or lost people.
Supporting Community Volunteers
K9 handlers and their supporting team are all dedicated volunteers who live in the communities they serve. Volunteers come from all walks of life - teachers, firemen, EMTs. All are dedicated community volunteers taking time away from their families and work to help others in need. Many K9 SAR Teams are part of larger state-wide search and rescue organizations. Others work independently.
Preparing K9 Teams for All Types of Emergencies
The demands placed on K9 SAR Teams are enormous and require extensive class time and field training. Handlers must be able to evaluate the dangers and risks of working in a variety of terrains. They must be prepared to work with their dog rapidly and accurately in dangerous conditions, in severe weather, in darkness or for prolonged periods of time. Handlers must be familiar with how vulnerable populations (children, the elderly or mentally ill) behave when they are frightened or confused. They must be able to administer first aid to victims until medical help arrives.
Handlers choose their dogs carefully, for in partnership they will depend on each other for clues and direction during the tiring hours of a search. Together they undergo months, and often years, of training to become certified to meet basic national compliant standards to search in wilderness, urban and/or water terrains. Teams are often required to be recertified at regular intervals to remain eligible to be called out and will often train beyond basic certification to be better prepared for emergencies.
Providing Financial Assistance for Training
Volunteer K9 SAR Teams embark on rescue missions entirely at their own time and expense. They are not compensated by any governmental agency for the expensive training that they must undergo. Nor are they reimbursed for the time they take off from their jobs or for any of the gear that they must have on hand.
Our Mission
K9 SAR CERT is a non-profit organization located in New York dedicated to training, supporting and promoting the use of volunteer K9 SAR Teams who work in our communities. Our mission:
- Raise funds to offer low-cost, top-quality certification training classes for K9/Handler units and the team specialists who support them,
- Assist with the creation of a regional network of nationally compliant and certified K9 SAR Teams which can provide law enforcement and government agencies with local volunteers who are specifically trained to work in various type rescue missions,
- Develop regional training areas and assist in establishing new chapters nationwide, and,
- Provide a forum for K9 SAR Teams from different specializations and regions to develop working relationships.
Did you Know?
- To certify a dog for rescue work, it can take up to 3 years and cost over $10,000. Expenses and further training can run over $5,000 annually. All costs must be paid for by the volunteer.
- In 2004, volunteer K9 SAR Teams participated in over 700 rescue missions across the United States.