THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 29, 1995 TAG: 9509280184
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
It was not by accident that the Virginia Beach-based FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Team, Virginia Task Force 2 earned praise from around the nation for its work in Oklahoma City last April.
The group's outstanding performance was the direct result of a rigorous training schedule in which personnel from nearly a dozen military and civilian jurisdictions in southeastern Virginia meet on a regular basis to study the process and learn the maneuvers needed for the complex work of rescuing people trapped in manmade structures.
But if Virginia Task Force 2 is considered one of the best outfits of its kind in the country at least part of the credit has to go to the usually friendly, occasionally noisy, always inquisitive team members who come to Virginia Beach from time to time to train alongside the men and women of the local fire and rescue units.
They are the professional sniffers - more correctly called air search dogs - of central Virginia who, along with their handlers, train with the rest of the team at least one day each quarter.
So impressive was their work in Oklahoma City that they rated a three-page spread in the August issue of Dog Fancy, a slick monthly publication devoted to canines and those who breed, show or love them.
Four of the Virginia dogs and their handlers were in town for training at Fire Station 10 on Providence Road recently. Although none had been part of the Oklahoma City effort, search team manager Susie Audibert of Gordonsville who was conducting the session had been.
``We really wanted to go,'' Bonnie Goin of Chesterfield County said as she scratched the head of her 7-year-old golden retriever, Max, ``but we weren't able to.''
While it was disappointing not to be included in the high profile Oklahoma City operation, Goin, a loan delivery assistant with Crestar Bank, and Max do more than their fair share of searching closer to home.
``He was 3 years old when we started training,'' Goin said. That was right after she had seen the reenactment of a Chesterfield County rescue that had been featured on the TV show ``911.'' ``I started calling around until I found a group in the area and Max and I started training with them.''
Most of their searches are in wilderness areas and most end with what every team hopes for: a live find. ``Most of the time we're called out to look for lost children or for Alzheimer's patients who have wandered off,'' Goin explained.
There were no live finds for the local team in Oklahoma City. The last living victim had been brought out shortly before Virginia Task Force 2 arrived.
``It was just such an awful situation,'' Audibert, owner of the Tivoli Bed and Breakfast near Charlottesville, said as she took time out from training local rescue workers to talk about the days she spent in Oklahoma City. ``There were so many emotions there that didn't hit me until the last day when we were shipping out.''
Like everyone who had participated in the rescue, Audibert was struck by the essential goodness of the people they met in Oklahoma City, yet overwhelmed at the realization that most who showed such kindness and concern for the rescuers had lost family, friends or neighbors on that awful April morning.
``Just to think that was man-made . . . '' Audibert said, shuddering slightly as her voice trailed off.
``That was the first time we had all worked together as a (FEMA) team,'' she explained. ``It was good, but there's always something you want to improve.''
Improvement and team building are what the quarterly training with the dogs is all about.
``We have to educate the rest of the task force about the dogs,'' Audibert said. ``It's one thing to say we have (dog search capabilities). It's another to understand it.''
At Station 10, part of that understanding came about in a very concrete, if somewhat unorthodox, way. While Audibert assigned one local rescue worker to play the role of a handler, a fellow worker, barking appropriately, was turned loose to ``sniff out'' a hidden treat.
Then, just for an added touch of realism, Audibert signaled a driver to start up one of the station's large trucks. At the same time, a helicopter, not involved, in the exercise, happened to fly over the scene at a fairly low level.
The resulting confusion, while realistic, was minor compared to what can be expected at a major search site.
The canine's performance was enlightening, if not terribly successful. ``Just remember,'' Audibert said, ``the dog's nose is about a million times more sensitive than yours. You have to let the dog be a searching machine, let him do the work.''
That being said, she was quick to add that rescue work involves a lot more than just dogs.
``It takes a full team,'' she said, ``and in this case that is a whole bunch of very talented people.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Bonnie Goin demonstrates hand signals she gives to her 7-year-old
golden retriever, Max. Both were in Virginia Beach for team
training.
KEYWORDS: DOG RESCUE by CNB