Trained dogs to be used by SORT in rescues

The Scottish Ambulance Service is using trained dogs to search for missing people in hard-to-reach areas such as lochs and rivers.

The dog squad – made up of all labradors - has been trained by a team of volunteers at Central K-9 SAR and will be used by the Scottish Ambulance Service’s Special Operation Response Team (SORT).

The Central K-9 team is led by SORT Paramedic Steve Band, who is working with a team of four handlers and their dogs, including his own dog, Poppy.

Steve, who has working within various search and rescue dog search teams since 2009, said: “While working with the SORT team at various water incidents, it became apparent that to speed up the process of clearing riverbanks and wooded areas beside water obstacles, that a search and rescue dog would be ideal to assist in this task.

“The dogs’ primary aim is to assist in clearing areas at a water incident allowing the small number of specially trained Swift Water Rescue Technicians from both the Ambulance SORT and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to focus on working in the water rather than trying to fight through dense undergrowth at an incident.” 

The search team, for now, will be focused on the central belt and Fife, but Steve said he had additional dogs and handlers due to start training in the next few months.

He added: “We are working on expanding to more over time to be able to cover all SORT areas in the East, West and North. Our operations are currently restricted to the central belt and Fife but will expand to cover all SORT areas as more dog teams are trained and become available.”

The team can be called out to assist when a SORT Team Leader requires the assistance of a search dog at a water incident by contacting Steve.

He added: “Dog teams will normally consist of a team of two people and one dog. This includes the primary dog handler and a search technician, who will keep track of location, communications and watch out for hazards for the dog handler. The primary dog handler is focused on watching the dog for signals and directing them to cover the tasked search area.”