BSARD adheres to the principle that we are an unpaid professional Search and Rescue organization. We adhere to the structure of the Incident Command System (ICS) as described by the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
Obviously we specialize in K9 methods, and that is our primary focus. Nonetheless, if we are called to a Missing Person Incident and the K9 services are not required at the moment, we will pitch in to help the ICS in whatever capacity is needed (for which we are qualified).
BSARD will only deploy in response to official calls from the following sources:
- Authorized representatives of Law Enforcement, Fire Services, and other Emergency Services. (BSARD typically comes in as a unit under the Operations Section of the Incident Command System.)
- Mutual aid requests from other search teams that are themselves operating under the official auspices of Law Enforcement, Fire Services, and other Emergency Services.
BSARD never responds to “take over a search.” Our efforts are specifically geared to assist the Incident Commander and provide whatever resources we can to the search effort.
Live Person Search
- Scent-specific Mantrailing uses dogs and handlers trained to follow the scent trail a person leaves behind as they travel through the environment.
- Scent-specific or General Area (sometimes called wilderness) search uses dogs and handlers trained to locate the strongest source of scent that is carried on the air currents in the environment.
Human Remains Detection (HRD)
- “Land” HR Detection uses dogs (often referred to as “cadaver dogs”) and handlers that are trained to locate the strongest source of the scent of human decomposition. This includes human remains that may be buried underground or elevated, such as on an upper floor of a building or in a tree.
- Water HR Detection uses dogs and handlers that are trained to locate the strongest source of the scent of human decomposition originating from under the surface of body of water, either from the shore or a boat. This includes moving water, such as a creek or river, as well as still water, such as a pond or lake.
- Side-Scan Sonar Operations use our high-quality Side-Scan Sonar system, operated and analyzed by our expert operator/analyst.
Article Search
Article search is a skill wherein a trained dog locates and alerts its handler to a discarded item with human scent on it. It is not typically scent-specific.
The article could be a discarded weapon, a dropped wallet, or any similar item, providing a valuable way to recover clues, even when there isn’t a clear track. The dog must indicate the discovery with a Trained Final Response while avoiding damaging the evidence.
Other Services
- Unknown Remains Identification uses HRD dogs and handlers to perform a presumptive test on discovered remains to determine if the remains are human. We train our dogs to not perform their Trained Final Response on animal remains.
- Missing Person Incident Command and Control can include personnel trained in Search Management and multiple levels of Planning and/or Operations. These people can help populate the Incident Command System structure when the Incident Commander does have their own personnel available for some reason. The Incident Commander always retains ultimate authority, even if they have tasked us with a certain level of management.
- Ground Search uses team members to perform a hasty search or grid search when dogs are not ideally applicable to a given situation.
- Public Education Presentations are available at no charge to library groups, businesses, schools, and civic organizations.
Search Environments
Because BSARD trains in a wide variety of environments, our teams are confident working in most environments:
- Urban, suburban, rural, and wilderness.
- Standing, collapsed, and burnt structures.
- Rivers and creeks.
- Lakes and ponds.
Finally…
We are sorry, but BSARD cannot use our dogs to find missing pets.
This is because because we’ve trained our dogs to ignore animal scents in favor of the human scent for which they are searching. However, being animal owners ourselves, we sympathize with your anxiety. Please see our Lost Pets page for some resources that may be able to help.