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| One of the many dog heroes of 9/11 that inspired me |
Search and Rescue (SAR) work has always been on my radar screen, but the impending storm was pushed off course ten years ago when I realized it was not conducive to the time requirements that a young family entailed. I put my canine dreams aside and filled what spare time I did have with a half-hearted return to martial arts training and a variety of sports-related activities just to keep me feeling alive. The desire for search and rescue work was always there, bubbling just below the surface, but I knew that realistically it wasn't something I could pursue for a long time. Fast forward ten years.
As my children grew older I found myself picking up new interests and new skills. I became passionate about the sport of triathlon, and with the help of an awesome coach I was able to transform myself from a couch potato into an Ironman in five years. This transformation was not only physical, but mental as well. I learned to commit to intensive daily training and juggle all other aspects of my life - work, family, and friends - in order to get things done. I learned to persevere through the pain, fatigue, and frustration that long hours and physical exertion created. I learned to work both individually and as a part of a team. I learned to train in the heat, the rain, and during the freezing hours of the night and to adapt to my circumstances when things didn't go as originally planned. Looking back now, I wonder if in some way all of that training wasn't part of a larger grand plan to get me back to the point of entering into the world of search and rescue.
As one chapter of my life closes, another opens, ready to be written. I am realizing that there are other areas that interest me that I can incorporate into my life, now that I have the skills to juggle. SAR is one of them. Although there is still a time commitment involved, it pales in comparison to what I, and my family, have already done. I better understand now how to make those time commitments fair to everyone involved. I am so grateful for the benefits of my training over the past five years, as it has prepared me to take on, and succeed, at any new adventures I have for my future.
This resurgence of my interest in SAR began about four months ago when a friend got a new puppy. This was not just any puppy, but a really
really bright puppy with tons of potential and innate ability to be trained in any area that his owner desired. This pup got me thinking again and rekindled my old desire for this kind of work that was starting to fade into the recesses of my mind. I had toyed with the idea of training a service dog occasionally over the past year but it never really grabbed hold. Suddenly I was excited about my old dream and my research began again. I connected with
LaSAR, a search and rescue organization based in Slidell, LA and started probing them for information. The more I learned, the more I realized I was onto a new passion. Eager to begin the training, even without a dog, I soon realized there was more to the process than just expressing the desire to the search team. There were membership requirements, expectations, and procedures. Weekly required team trainings were held out of town and it was recommended that they be attended even without a canine to make sure I matched the team's needs, and the team matched my needs...and so I would know exactly what I was getting into. After having attended some trainings I could submit my membership application for consideration by the team. My application would be "read" and voted on by team members over the course of four months. At that point, if I was accepted as a member, I would become official.
Although I was eager to begin the process, I once again had to put the brakes on my enthusiasm as I had one more goal to complete before I could take on a new "passion". I had just a few months left before my attempted completion of my first (and only) full Ironman distance triathlon that I had been training towards for the past year. As much as I craved distraction from the rigors of my training regimine, I pulled myself back and held off from any SAR training sessions in order to keep my focus on the prize at the time. The weekend after I completed my Ironman I picked up the phone and scheduled to attend my first training session with LaSAR. It has been a whirlwind of excitement since.
I am hooked. I don't know if it is my strong love of the outdoors and adventure, but even the long cold training sessions are fun for me...and I don't even have a canine partner yet. Watching the team work their dogs in the woods, and fields, and buildings as they search out live finds...or human remains...is fascinating to me. These dogs are ridiculously smart. They can pick up my scent off of my watchband and track me for a long distance to find me hidden in an abandoned trailer. They can pick up the scent of human remains that are hundreds of years old and the size of a vertebrae buried under a pile of leaves. They can find a severed foot in a cooler after quickly clearing a field and heading straight to the scent. The more I see, the more eager I am to participate.
SAR appeals to my own thrill of adventure. Hiking through the woods in bad weather is not fun for most people, but I love it. I love that I will have to learn to use a HAM radio, tie knots, learn survival skills, orienteering, and the art of tracking. I'll learn to navigate rubble pits and rappel with my canine partner. I'll fly with my dog on a helicopter and work with the Coast Guard when needed. I thrive on the idea that I may be able to help reunite a family with a lost child, or return a wandering parent with Alzheimers back to their family's home, or give a family closure by returning the remains of a loved one whom they lost in a tragedy. The LaSAR team has been on hundreds of missions that have included recovering Hurricane Katrina victims and Columbia Space Shuttle astronauts, searching for drowning victims and victims of homicide, as well as returning the missing through live searches.
As of now my membership application has been read once and I am getting to know all the team members and trainers. I am absorbed in reading and learning all I can about the field. I observe whenever I am able and attend the team trainings, trying to learn what I can from the other members and their dogs, and to volunteer to be hidden whenever needed. With the assistance of the lead trainer, Lisa, I have selected my preferred breed, a labrador retriever, to become my first canine partner. I am looking forward to an upcoming litter from which we will get the pick of when they are ready to go to their forever homes in January.
In the meantime I will continue reading, observing, training with the team, and preparing my home for a new addition!
