SUE HILLYARD
In early May this year, in the small Southern Cape town of George, a major disaster occurred; a four storey future apartment building collapsed, trapping the workers inside.
Following protocol, Disaster Management swung into action and the rescue teams, who are always on standby, were contacted and requested to help at the scene.
In these drastic situations, it is important to get the rescue teams working as soon as possible.
Therefore it was not long before Sir Lowry’s Pass residents, Mariann Wilson and James Smart and their K9s were requested to attend.
Mariann and James are members of the K9 Search & Rescue team, and are very diligent to the important role that they play in disasters such as these.
They relate their experience…
Mariann and Echo
It is as if Echo can read my mind.
As soon as I receive the call for assistance, before I even move towards gathering the necessary equipment, he is there, watching intensely, and with the hope that this time he will attend with me.
Once I collect his equipment, the excitement increases and he moves directly to sit and wait for me by the car.
Once on the scene; an assessment is done, signing in and our instructions are relayed. Waiting is not always easy for him, but he is always 100% committed to what lies ahead.
My involvement with search and rescue stared 14 years ago. In 2001 I had been inspired by the men and women who attended the 911 disaster.
Over this time, I have had several working dogs who airscent to locate the victim.
Echo started as a trailing dog (following the human scent left on the ground by the missing person); however, I discovered he preferred to work airscent, so switched him to disaster work.
He qualified in August 2023 as a live find search dog; so in George he was deployed to search for any trace of live people buried under collapsed building.
The dual trained dogs were then used to confirm where he indicated.
There are periods when the dogs are not required to work. During these times, although the whole searching process is exhausting, we find that our bodies just keep going.
James and I would assist where we could in helping with the removal of debris on the scene.
Much has been said about the psychological effects of this work on dog and handler.
I have found that the dogs tend to gravitate towards those in need of emotional support at the scene. In George, when not working or sleeping, Echo was cuddling with the rescue teams.
Dogs are fantastic at knowing when to give emotional support. Echo and I have a strong bond, especially when on deployment, as we are together 24/7.
We trust and respect one another as we rely on each other to be successful in our work.
James and Chaos
Dogs, and working with them is one of the passions of my life. Man’s best friend. This work has been part of and sometimes I feel, the most important part of my life.
I have two working dogs at present and am training a third. My older dog, Jedi, has been my rescue partner for 6 years.
His nature is very driven, and once we arrive on the scene, he is ready. He is totally absorbed and does not want to leave, until he has been successful.
Chaos, my Melenoir shepherd, on the other hand is wildly excited and wants to work immediately. She has the lovely nature, and always wants to please me.
I began with K9 Search and Rescue when I relocated from Johannesburg to Cape Town in 2018.
Jedi was a very young dog, full of energy which needed channeling. Search and Rescue was that means.
It had a profound effect on me, which led me to do many training courses including Trauma First Aid responder. I worked with Jedi for about 2 and half years to fully train him.
As my own experience increased, Chaos took two years to satisfy me of her level of competence. The dogs know when it is time to work.
I guess they feel my seriousness about the situation and respond to that. I don’t feel like they change their behaviour that much because we train so much together, but I am sure they do work a little harder when it is a real situation.
I believe that there is no effect on them if we find the victim too late. They have made a find and they get rewarded for that. They do not understand that it is too late. They had an odour to look for.
When were called by WC Disaster Risk Management Chief Colin Dinier to assist in George last month, we were able to deploy within 30 minutes of getting the call… and I believe the first K9s on the scene.
We started our search immediately, and after the dogs had alerted in several places, the rescue teams were directed to these places. We put dogs in the car and assisted in moving the bricks and rubble.
As the night went on, more rescue crews, SAPS Search and Rescue and two SAPS K9 and handlers – WO Visser and WO le Roux and many volunteers arrived, and teams were organised to focus on specific areas.
After a couple hours sleep, and my phone rang requesting we return to site for another possible live victim location and search. The day continued with us working with SAPS K9 handlers, locating and confirming live victims as the clearing continued.
Progressively, over the ensuing few days, when people were brought out, the cheers went up each time.
By the time we got to the Thursday, the dogs had worked many times confirming, reconfirming, giving direction on where to dig… but were getting tired.
Another two SAPS K9 handlers arrived, making six of us with Search and Rescue dogs – and the pace of search had slowed, so we decided it was time to head home and give the dogs a comfy bed and rest.
I have always been very pet-friendly and had good relationships with my animals; however, the relationship with Chaos and Jedi, due to the things we have done together, and time spent together is something much deeper.
They are a life line for me. Jedi and I worked in the 2002 Durban floods; Search and Rescue of four children in a collapsed tunnel under the R300 highway Cape Town.
Chaos and I worked in the Ukraine last year, and now the aftermath of the collapsed George building.
It is difficult to explain what that does.
