Thank you for taking the time to check out an important passion of mine!
A little about me - As some of you know, I have been training dogs for over 40 years. I was also an EMT for several years in my younger days. So it was not a far leap for me to combine the two and begin my journey as a member of a K9 Search and Rescue Team. My K9 partner, Maverick and I started down this path almost 5 years ago. Since then it has become a passion and a rather large commitment. We have committed to being available 24/7/365 days a year, regardless of weather conditions to bring missing loved ones home. The team averages 50 calls and 10,000 hours of volunteer training time a year. Sometimes we have happy, successful reunions and sometimes we just bring closure to families. But, we willingly do it because we see the need and have a heart for it. One can only imagine the pain of knowing your child, spouse, parent, or sibling is in danger and you don't know where they are.
A little about my team - Northeast K9 Search and Rescue (NESAR) is an all-volunteer, non-profit search & rescue and disaster response organization with 18 working K9 teams, along with many other volunteers who help with the other responsibilities of the organization. NESAR began in 1972 and just celebrated their 50th anniversary. The team has assisted local and PA state police, DCNR, the National Park Service and local fire departments to find missing adults and children. They have been instrumental in bringing closure to many cases over the years.
A little about our commitment - Training to be a Search and Rescue team takes up to 2 years of weekly training before being tested for certification. Our dogs are all owner trained and operated. We also attend numerous 1-7 day seminars throughout the year that require us to travel long distances to different states. All of our members are required to be certified in a variety of areas to keep us fully prepared for any emergency, such as - Wilderness First Aid and CPR, K9 First Aid and CPR, Hazmat Awareness, Blood borne Pathogens, Crime Scene Preservation, Lost Person Behavior, NASAR Search and Rescue Technical courses, and numerous FEMA courses to teach us the rules and goals of Emergency Management and how to function as a unit in times of crisis. Our volunteer members pay for all of this along with our uniforms and personal equipment out of our own pockets. Functioning teams also require many items such as trailers, trucks, boats, computers, radio and navigational equipment, drones, first aid supplies, AEDs, safety equipment, training sites, and storage facilities to keep it all. It may come as a surprise to some, but unfortunately there is no provision from the counties or state to fund these programs. It is all volunteer time and donations that run these K9 organizations. We volunteer for as many fund raising events as we can to help support our team. You will see us working at the Pocono Race Track, the Air Show, and running the Stroudsburg St. Patrick's Day and Veteran's Day Parade to name a few. But it is a costly endeavor, and we need every penny we can get to accomplish the things we would like to do to make us an even better and more efficient team. This is where we need your help.
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