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Search and Rescue Dogs
The Leicestershire ISAR team has had disaster search and rescue dog teams for over ten years. These have comprised Keith Hampton with Max and Minnie, and Chris Pritchard with Elliott and Gemma.
Currently, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service have two search and rescue dogs, Abby and Maya. They are used to carry out Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations for UK and overseas disasters, and open area search work assisting Leicestershire Constabulary in locating missing, lost and injured persons in Leicestershire and Rutland.
The dog teams can support an incident commander in two ways. These include positive searching incidents, where there is positive intelligence that persons are missing, and negative searching incidents, where there is a likelihood that persons are missing and a search of the area is necessary to confirm that this is not the case.
Dog teams have been deployed to a number of incidents both within the UK and internationally. These include building collapses, major transport incidents, explosions, construction accidents, and natural disasters.
Information on the search dogs is available by clicking on the images below.
Chris Pritchard
Firefighter, Technical Rescue, Southern Fire and Rescue Station
Chris has trained and worked with dogs for the past 26 years, serving in the Armed Forces (Infantry) in a number of operational theatres around the world, before being transferred to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, where he became an instructor. This role consisted of training both handlers and dogs for the different types of roles the UK forces carried out at that time, including guard, security, drugs, arms explosive, tracker and police dogs.
Chris joined Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service in 2000, where he served as a retained (part time) firefighter, and as a wholetime firefighter since 2004. Since joining ISAR in 2000, one of his main achievements has been the implementation and coordination of Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) dog teams into the programme; these are made up from a number of different UK Fire and Rescue Services and funded centrally by the UK government. Chris was instrumental in deploying one of the first disaster search and rescue dogs from the UK to a major earthquake (Colombia, 1999) with the charity RAPID UK. Since then, he has deployed USAR dogs to Turkey in 1999, and to the Algerian earthquake of 2003, where he also coordinated other dog teams in carrying out these roles. He has also participated in the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) IEC for UK ISAR’s initial classification in 2006 and the first INSARAG reclassification which took place in 2009.
Chris has project managed a number of USAR dog projects abroad and currently supports the International Rescue Dog Organisation in a number of areas, one of these being an evaluator for Mission Readiness tests.
Abby
Abby
Abby is currently operational, having taken over from Gemma in 2010. She is a very talented dog who works extremely well.
She has a number of high profile incidents under her belt already, these being a number of gas explosions occurring in Shrewsbury, Doncaster, and Leicester in 2010.
Abby has two main roles in supporting the Service: Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations for UK and overseas disasters, and open area search work assisting Leicestershire Constabulary in locating missing, lost and injured persons in Leicestershire and Rutland.
Abby and her handler are on call 24/7 to respond from either Leicestershire’s Technical Rescue station, or from home when not on duty.
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Maya
Maya
Maya is a “real” rescue dog. Abandoned in Northamptonshire, she was luckily found and taken to a Collie Rescue charity in 2010 where she found her handler Chris Pritchard. From that day on she was a member of the Fire and Rescue Service, where she would train to become a search and rescue dog.
Maya is a highly focused, driven dog, who has the right attributes to be successful. There are a number of areas that have to be worked on to overcome her previous background, however with time and patience these will be overcome, and she will have no problems in following in the footsteps of Elliott, Gemma, and Abby.
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Elliott (1993-2009)
Elliott
1993-2009
Elliott was deployed to numerous disasters in the UK. He was also the first USAR dog to officially be deployed outside the UK, when he was deployed to the 1999 Colombian earthquake.
For the work carried out at the Colombian earthquake, Elliott was awarded the Pro Dogs Gold Medal for Life Saving Work in 1999.
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Gemma (Retired)
Gemma
Gemma retired from operational duties in 2010, having served Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service for nearly 11 years. She has been instrumental in setting the standards for USAR dogs in the UK, especially with the Fire and Rescue Service.
Gemma has attended numerous incidents in the UK and has worked on five different continents around the world.
She has been awarded several awards for devotion to duty, including a globe award which was presented in Washington DC, USA; an exceptional dog who is now enjoying her retirement at home.
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For more information regarding the search dogs visit the UKFSSART Dog Team website. This site includes information regarding how these dogs work (see Canines Within the Fire and Rescue Service), past deployments as well as numerous photos.
