Congratulations to the Canine Disaster Search Teams who achieved SUSAR Certification at the NTC!
We are excited to announce that all three New York search teams that participated in the first-ever State Urban Search and Rescue Alliance (SUSAR) canine evaluation held at the National Training Center (NTC) passed the test!
The results of the May 21 test are a great milestone for New York Task Force 2 (NY-TF2) because every canine team on the task force is now eligible to deploy as needed for the next three years.
This marks the first certification for two SDF-trained teams partnered last year: Brook Rowley & Echo, who achieved SUSAR Type I Certification, and Adam Leckonby & Luka, who achieved SUSAR Type II Certification!
Veteran Search Team Greg Gould & Dax were first paired on January 24, 2012 and have certified together three times, including their SUSAR Type I re-certification this week at the NTC. This will be Greg & Dax’s last re- certification and is valid until 2022.
Our country’s canine disaster search teams operate either under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or State Urban Search & Rescue Alliance (SUSAR)
systems. Both require canine teams to certify every three years under similar guidelines in order to deploy with their task force. In the FEMA system, the first test a team must pass is the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA), then they must pass an advanced search test called the Certification Evaluation (CE) to become deployable. In the SUSAR system, the FSA equates to what they call Type II and the CE is called the Type I. SUSAR teams are allowed to deploy with their task force as soon as they achieve Type II certification and then have up to 6 months to take and pass the Type I.
This test was also a landmark moment for SDF as the NTC is now officially a host site for future SUSAR tests, if needed. As a SUSAR-sanctioned test site on the West Coast, we are proud to offer an additional location for more teams to certify in the future and serve our country.
Opportunities for our nation’s search teams are only made possible by your support—thank you for making this certification a reality and for helping us provide this valuable resource to the nation. Thank you for being Part of the Search!
