David Frost

Yesterday, I assisted at a FEMA/USAR trainng and certification event. Although the event was a week long, my role was crew chief on a helicopter to assist in doing hot loads (engines running) and hot unloads. The helo portion included a standard safety briefing by the pilot (they used our highway patrol copter) and a briefing on the best way to load, hold the dog and dismount. Most dogs accepted it very well although a few were really nervous around the running copter.

I also got a tour of training etc that was being conducted. They had a number of stations set up ranging from; a tall tripod used to hoist the dog by a harness and rope, a distraction area where a live subject was hidden along with food, cadaver material etc along the way, a confined space training that was filled with smoke and dark as hades (we could watch through infared camera). All in all, it was a very informative trip for me, even if I did have to work a little.

One particular bright spot for me, on the flight to the event we say a mature bald eagle hunting. The pilot even made a couple of circles just so we could watch him. What a beauty.

DFrost

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DFrost

Any behavior that is reinforced is more likely to occur again.