Search and rescue teams travel to Lincoln to get dogs FEMA-certified

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Several search and rescue teams and their dogs traveled to Lincoln on Saturday to be FEMA-certified as live find and cadaver search canines.

E”Nebraska has developed and built these beautiful piles out here, that rival any piles across the country,” said Eliodora Chamberlain, a member of the Missouri Task Force One team. “So everyone comes here to take a certification test. Once a dog is certified, then that dog is deployable for a FEMA task force.”

The canine search teams work to find missing people during emergencies.

Teams from Nebraska, Washington, California, Missouri, Indiana and Colorado put their dogs to the test at Lincoln Fire & Rescue’s training center.

“The handler and the dog have 20 minutes to search this pile,” Chamberlain said. “This pile is over 11,000 square feet. They have to search 11,000 square feet to find an unknown number of people, and then bark to alert and then the handler has to mark it.”

After getting their certification, dogs and their handlers have to be recertified every three years.

Chamberlain said all of the teams are like a family, but nothing beats the connection they feel with their dogs.

“When you pass the test, it makes all of that hard work, the sacrifice, the sacrifice of your family, your teammates helping you out, it’s a feeling like no other,” she said. “This is the hardest job I’ve ever had, but it is the most rewarding.”

Rhonda Stuhrenberg, a member of Nebraska Task Force One, said passing the test never fails to put a smile on her face.

“It feels great to have passed the test,” she said. “It feels great, I’ve done this for a long time, 15 years and this is my fifth or sixth test. And it’s crazy how the test nerves just never go away.”