BELLBROOK FIRE/EMS

Bellbrook Fire Department
Search & Rescue K-9 Program

The Bellbrook Fire Department is proud to be a part of the FEMA Urban Search & Rescue System. Through her involvement with Ohio Task Force One, Bellbrook Fire Department Lieutenant Athena Robbins has been selected to participate as "K-9 Search Specialist" and is also the "Canine Search Team Manager" with this elite national rescue unit.

Athena took part in an intensive two-week training program hosted by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation in Ojai, California in 2002. During the fourteen days of training, she along with two other members from the Ohio Task Force were instructed in how to partner with their Foundation Dogs, learning commands, agility behaviors and search techniques that allowed them to move towards successful national FEMA certification. At the end of their first week, the participants were paired with their assigned search dog and continued training with their new partner. Athena and her K-9 partner Gator became FEMA certified in 2004.

The Ohio Task Force aquired four search dogs through some anonymous donors after the September 11th attacks. The donations allowed the Ohio Task Force to place two of those dogs in the Miami Valley and two in northern Ohio in the Toledo area. All of the K-9's come with a good training base in agility and obedience. The handlers will be work with their K-9 partners, as part of a team to complete the FEMA required certification allowing their dogs to be fully deployable to disasters across the United States.

The Bellbrook Fire Department in cooperation with Vectren Energy Delivery developed a Search Dog Training site at the rear of our Fire Station 2 on West Franklin Street. Using property owned by the Vectren Company, along with donations from area businesses and civic groups, the K-9 Training Center was constructed by local Boy Scout, Travis Sira, as an Eagle Scout Project. The training center will provide the needed equipment and atmosphere for a challenging, yet successful daily training environment. This daily training is vital to the dogs work drive and their ability to rescue live victims in their time of need.

Watch the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Public Safety Announcement (Very Large - 7.3MB)

	More about Gator	More about Athena
	More about Frietag
	More about Cooper	More about Eddie

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