Professional K-9 Services for Law Enforcement and Lost Pets

Providing Professional K-9 Services to Law Enforcement and Individuals

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Law Enforcement

AVALANCHE RESCUE

Dogs smell (detect) a multitude of scents at an avalanche burial, e.g. sweat, urine, breath, soap residue, skin rafts, and chemicals produced by the body, etc.

Bodies produce many chemicals and bacteria that are present in our respiratory system, mouth, gastrointestinal tract, and on our skin. The skin constantly sloughs off dead skin cells (scurf). When a person is buried, the air they exhale, and/or the odors they emit (from their body, scurf, and clothing) will percolate up to the snow surface.

With the temperature gradient (ground/snow interface) being generally warmer than the snow/air surface, warmer air molecules rise to the surface.

Scent produced by the body will rise through the snow and escape into the air above the avalanche debris. The point where the scent reaches the surface is where the K-9 will alert.

The principal factors affecting scent are the type and density of the avalanche debris. A rising scent will follow the path of least resistance in a snow slide; in low-density snow or shallow burials, the scent will defuse quickly. In dense snow or slab avalanches the scent will take more time to defuse and may not be directly above the buried person. In a hard slab avalanche with large chunks of debris, scent will escape around the chunks or slabs. If there are trees in the slide or deposition area, scent may rise through tree-wells and branches, which offer more air space. Ice layers will also cause a deviation of scent distribution.

A K-9 team can cover a portion or the entire avalanche slide area quicker than individuals or teams of people working a probe line. Probe teams can’t ever match the search area a K-9 team can cover in a given amount of time. An example, a group of 20 people doing fine probing (98% POD) would generally take four hours to cover the same area a K-9 team can search with a POD of 100% in 20 minutes.

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