Texas, COLLEGE STATION -- This weekend Disaster City hosted the Annual FEMA Canine Training in College Station.
The facilities built on the world-renowned property known as "Disaster City," are equipped to train many units within the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Jan. 26 and 27 are dedicated to the progression of canines' training around the country.
The College Station location is facilitated by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, or TEEX. TEEX members volunteer their time and dog for crisis related events that occur nation wide.
To qualify for the FEMA Canine Training in College Station, each dog and handler are required to be in an existing task force somewhere in the country, but to make it as a dog in the field, Christy Bormann, training coordinator for Texas Task Force One, says there are four special ingredients.
First, dogs cannot be too small or too big. They should be strong and able to handle themselves around large debris, but handlers also want to be able to carry them safely from the disaster area if they should get hurt.
Second, the canines have to be "exceptionally agile" to maneuver different situations and find victims with ease.
Third, they seek out dogs with a small attitude and an exuding amount of confidence so they will not notice the obstacle and distractions around them.
Fourth, the dogs must be easily motivated by toys, as that is their reward for each person they help find.
Each obstacle and location in Disaster City simulates a unique disaster. "There are giant piles of concrete. Those are actually specially designed to act like collapsed buildings, and they have special compartments built into them so we can safely hide people in there [for the dogs to find]," said Bormann.
Bormann and her team compared the rigorous training to "an entire weekend of profession level of hide and seek" and Disneyland.
The search and rescue division with FEMA has helped many disasters throughout its history.
Kathy Fraser, the associate director of TEEX, recalled the day Texas Task Force One sent out canines to the World Trade Center after 9/11, and Bormann added to the list of major relief efforts.
"We were very involved in Harvey, we sent responders to Puerto Rico for Hurricane Maria, [and] there are canine teams here that responded to Irma in Florida. This year we were also at Fort Hood to look for a soldier who had been swept away at a low water crossing," Bormann said.
Each handler spoken to had the same motivation to volunteer. They love their furry partners and want to help those in desperate situations.
