Upstate, South Carolina – February 6, 2012 – Three team members of the South Carolina Search & Rescue Dog Association [SCSARDA] have attained national certifications in cadaver detection from the North American Police Work Dog Association [NAPWDA]. NAPWDA specializes in the development, improvement, training and certification of police work dogs and assists in certifying working dog teams on various all-volunteer and other teams.
Handlers Maria Claxton with K-9 Duke, Nancy Jocoy with K-9 Grim, and Patrick Cheatham with K-9 Drako passed the three-day certification test, which included searches for 12 different sources in six areas, including rubble [simulating a collapsed building], vehicles, water, open wilderness, building, and buried. All three handlers are highly experienced in search and rescue and had passed internal SCSARDA testing, along with a number of pre-requisite courses, including Crime Scene Preservation, NIMS and ICS courses; dog teams also passed the pre-requisite NAPWDA police obedience certification.
"SCSARDA has various specialized dog teams – including trailing, area search or air scent, and both land and water human remains search teams – to assist emergency services agencies in finding missing persons," said Maria Claxton, President of the SCSARDA. “The search for those who have died may not feel as positive a search, but it's such a useful service, since it provides closure to the families and friends of loved ones.”
Four Hendersonville-area businesses donated their facilities for the certification locations. Testing was conducted at Green River Quarry of Hedrick Industries for the rubble search, Camp Pinnacle for water searches, Red Barn Pet Care Center for open wilderness, and Randy's Automotive for the vehicle searches.
The South Carolina Search and Rescue Dog Association (SCSARDA) is an all-volunteer professional search and rescue team with highly trained search dogs dedicated to helping find those who are lost, from children to hikers to drowning victims to those with Alzheimer's. Founded in 2002, SCSARDA is a specialized tool for emergency services agencies and participates in more than 30 search and rescue calls a year. For more information on SCSARDA surf to http://www.scsarda.org/.