FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 30, 2008

El Cajon Fire Department is proud to announce the certification of two new disaster search dogs. The dogs, along with their handlers, Fire Captain Steve Swaney and Fire Engineer Marco Maldonado, recently passed the Department of Homeland Security/FEMA certification test. The certification test is the culmination of thousands of hours of training for the handlers and dogs.

After a disaster, when buildings have crumbled to the ground, these dogs are used to search much more quickly and safely than people can. By training on simulated rubble piles where volunteer victims are hiding, the canines and their handlers prepare themselves to find people who would otherwise remain buried. A disaster search dog must learn to crawl through tunnels, walk up and down ladders, and walk on wobbly surfaces and over debris and rubble. The dog must be able to go in a direction that its handler has signaled and stop and wait for instructions. No technology can match a dog's speed and accuracy in finding people trapped alive under the wreckage of a disaster, thanks to its:

• Remarkable sense of smell (many times more acute than ours) and ability to ignore all other scents and noises- even tempting traces of other animals, food, or people involved in the search;
• Unparalleled ability to quickly and safely navigate unstable and slippery terrain;
• Ability to negotiate these dangerous surfaces while keeping absolutely focused on the job at hand: saving a life; and
• Ability to work off-leash and get to places humans cannot safely travel.

This program is a partnership between the El Cajon Fire Department and the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. The Foundation provides the dogs and the Fire Department provides the handler. The Foundation has found that this partnership with firefighters is a very successful model. Many of these dogs are rescued from animal shelters - they have turned rescued dogs into rescuers. El Cajon Fire Chief Mike Scott says, "These dogs and their handlers will be an important resource for saving lives locally, state wide and nationally."

CONTACT: Monica Zech
El Cajon Fire
Public Information Officer
(619) 441-1737 - office

The two canines, "Sherman" and "Billy," pictured with Captain Steve Swaney (left) and Fire Chief Mike Scott (right) were retired about two years ago. All four were sent to New York City to help in the search and rescue efforts following the attack on 9/11.