Red Cross canine team endorsed in heavy-duty rescue

Carolina Gomez Mena

The newspaper La Jornada
Monday, September 9, 2024, p. 18

Balam, Orly and Cinnamon These are not ordinary dogs. They are capable of saving human lives thanks to their skills and training, but above all to their powerful sense of smell. These dogs are part of the Collapsed Structures Rescue (USAR) team of the Mexican Red Cross (CRM), which this week received accreditation for heavy-duty rescue operations.

The USAR has 18 certified dogs, and 50 more are in training. Since they are puppies they are preparing every day to reach an optimal level.account to The Day Marco Antonio Franco Hernández, national deputy coordinator of relief and leader of the USAR team in the country.

Cinnamona sociable beagle-terrier crossbreed, has been working for USAR for most of her life. She is almost five years old and has been in training for just over three of them. We are now working on the international assessment phase. The certification process is about to end. Last month we were in Guatemala, taking the international tests.says Juan Gutiérrez Álvarez, a member of the USAR of the CRM, Puebla delegation.

The rescuer adds that Cinnamon It still needs a little more work, but we can say that it can already be operational. If something were to happen now, it is capable of doing it, but the ideal is that we comply with the entire certification process so that it is proven that where it indicates there is really something, and that if it enters (a collapsed structure), and it does not indicate anything, we are 100 percent sure that there is not, because we cannot fail..

The canine brothers Balam and Orly They are six-year-old border collies who have participated in international rescue missions. USAR member Edgar Martinez says he has had them since they were puppies.

They, like CinnamonThey live with their human rescue partner (binomial), so sometimes they behave like pets, but they distinguish based on the signals when it is time to work and train.

Edgar Martinez explains that during a rescue mission, the dog is stripped of everything, even its collar, to prevent it from getting stuck in those spaces. This way, the dog knows that the search is about to begin, but it is also given a signal, a sequence of steps. He warns that only on occasions, for example, when the ground is hot, the dogs wear boots.

Not all dogs are suitable for this job, they must be Active and sociable, the friendliest breeds are chosen. If they are reactive and growl, they are not suitable. and highlights that in the CRM We choose our dogs, so when they retire (between eight and nine years old) we keep them, they don’t go up for adoption..

Edgar Martinez remembers that one of the challenges, due to the complexity and the long staywas the earthquake in Türkiye in early 2023. On any mission I always have the same feelings: the concern that my dogs are safe, no matter how minor or major the circumstances. The incident in Turkey was very memorable to me, due to the magnitude of the event. We made a lot of contact with victims..

Juan Gutiérrez indicates that for the binomial to work well there must be a connection, a bondbetween human rescuer and dog, and explains that they learn through play and rewards.

On the eve of September 19, when the earthquakes of 1985 and 2017 are commemorated, Edgar Martínez warns that These types of events, even if we have experienced a coincidence, do not warn and adds that the earthquakes They have taught us to grow as a societyespecially in the culture of civil protection. We all have clear steps to follow in an earthquake.