PERUVIAN FIRE SERVICE
USAR  SEARCH & RESCUE DOG PROJECT

Assessment carried out by:  Chris Pritchard UKFSSART, in partnership with RAPID UK.

This visit has been a fact finding mission to look at all the aspects of the project, and to look at what further assistance can be offered to establish and maintain an effective USAR dog capability in this region of the world. 

 The three main aims of this visit were:

a) to look at what has been achieved since an initial survey which was carried out in May 2003 for the implementation USAR dog team for Cuerpo de Bomberos (Peruvian Fire Service).

 b) to give immediate assistance in supporting the team in the short term, until a decision can be made on what long-term support can be given to this project. 

 c) to look at the requirements needed for the implementation of a successful long term project.

The team will be looking to assist in the successful implementation of 6 dogs and handlers for this project.  A report has been carried out on this visit, and sent to the relevant personnel to assist in securing funding for this project. 

If Successful a joint project team will be made up of members from UKFSSART and RAPID UK dog teams to carry out this project.

HANDLERS PHOTOS

Aldo and Donna                                  Gonzalo and Argos

Jaime and Luna                             Miguel and April

BENEFITS FOR SUPPORTING THIS PROJECT

 The implementation of an USAR dog team is required in this part of the world for the following reasons:-

 - The USAR dog team are an integrated part of an Urban Search & Rescue Team. They are one of the most important tools in the technical search USAR arsenal in locating missing, trapped and buried casualties.

 - Peru is vulnerable to natural disasters, where earthquakes, floods and landslides are frequent.

 - Lima has a population of more than 13.5 million people.

 - The last big earthquake that hit Peru (Lima) was more than thirty years ago.  It is common knowledge that the Lima area is well overdue for another large earthquake in the near future. 

 -         The infrastructure and emergency services would be drastically stretched to manage an incident on this scale.  This would be compounded with the type of building construction in Lima, and the immediate availability of specialist USAR teams.

 - Due to Lima’s geographical location, it could take up to 48-72 hours to get professional teams, which include dog teams, to respond and arrive.

 - Having six highly-trained dog teams from the Peruvian Fire Service in Lima would greatly assist in locating trapped and live causalities in the first hours of a disaster.  This is paramount in the search and rescue world, where the first 24hr “Golden day” provides the highest survival rate for causalities in these types of incidents.

 - These teams can be used not just for major incidents, but also for local and national incidents involving missing persons.  In the past foreign teams have been drafted into Peru to look for foreigners who have gone missing. 

 - The Peruvian Fire Service in Lima has recently established a USAR team to respond to these types of incidents.  The team consists of 46 members and 2 civilian dog teams from Elite K9.  The implementation of these additional full time professional dog teams will greatly enhance the technical search part of this USAR team. 

 - The USAR dog team are looking to respond not only to incidents in Peru, but also to support other countries in South America for these types of incidents.  

Selection of photos from the visit:-