Leave your body to the dogs — and save lives

Search and rescue canines train for the worst. They were developed to be used during catastrophic events like 9/11, the Joplin Mo. tornadoes and more recently the Oso, Wash. mudslide. They bring people home, dead or alive.

The dogs train with human remains. Oregon law makes it tricky for trainers to get their hands on the materials they need.

Dogs have been common tools of search and rescue teams since the 1970s. Today, there are hundreds of teams across the United States and right in our backyard.

“Dogs can smell sources that’s buried under rubble, or dirt or water that we can’t find,” said Karen Marcotte with the Crook County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team.

“Source” is the sensitive way of saying human body parts. It can be anything from teeth to placentas, arms and legs. It’s vital to the canine’s education.

“We cannot properly train a dog to go out into a field and find someone that’s missing without having that source,” said Jillian McIntosh with the Crook County SAR Team.

Tracking is a skill that needs to be harnessed. The Crook County team does that every week.

“It takes years of training , like I say, to teach them to find the correct source,” Marcotte said.

Different disasters call for different measures.

“Our missions are so varied that we need as much different types of source , because muscle smells different than bone,” McIntosh said.

They also have to train with human remains that are in various stages of decomposition.

The Crook County SAR Team stores the material they have in a controlled, protected environment.

They leave some material in ambient temperature so it can go through the natural decomposition phases. Other sources they store in a cooler , and still others, like bone, the team can train on for years.

The dogs store all of these smells. Like cards in a catalog, they’re accessible , should the worst occur.

“You never know when disaster is going to strike here,” McIntosh said.

Central Oregon is susceptible to earthquakes, tornadoes and mudslides, not to mention human-caused disasters.

But getting cadaver sources to train with is not easy. Right now , the team trains with anything they can get their hands on , from nosebleed tissues to leftovers from surgery. Most of their sources come from friends and family.

“Unfortunately , the law in Oregon is kind of a gray area for search and rescue,” McIntosh said.

Oregon law allows for the use of human remains in research or educational settings. Nowhere in that law is “search and rescue” specifically mentioned , but that does not necessarily mean it’s excluded. Oregon lawmakers said they were unaware of the problem.

“Getting proper training to first responders , whether they be human or canine , is a critical function,” said state Rep. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte.

McLane said if Search and Rescue teams reach out to him , he’ll take a look at helping.

State Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, said,”That would concern me, if it’s not working for our law enforcement.”

The Crook County Search and Rescue team says it’s not.

“There’s a lot in the community and in the medical field that don’t want to touch it , because of liability,” McIntosh said.

Hospitals have a waste stream. Professionals or students involved in research or education are able to take the unclaimed material from that stream before it gets incinerated , without a problem.

The Crook County SAR team says because they aren’t listed in the anatomical study law, hospitals don’t want to take the risk. However, they say it’s a liability either way , because they need dogs they can trust are trained in a natural disaster — and so do you.

Artificial remains are an option, but not the best one, the team leader says.

“Some dogs will hit on it, but not hit on actual human source,” McIntosh said.

Your best bet of being found is by dogs that train with real human body parts. Canine teams’ best way of getting that is from living donors. The source can be used for a long time, but eventually, the team has to replace some of it.

Oregon ‘s laws are falling behind other states like Wyoming, which in 2009 added the words “search and rescue” to their anatomical gift and study laws.

Much of Oregon law regarding anatomical gifts was written before search and rescue dogs. Today, there’s been almost 50 years of research into best practices for the industry.

SAR teams say it’s time for Oregon’s laws to catch up, so they can help keep you safe — or bring you or your loved ones home.

For information on how to donate to the Crook County Sheriff’s SAR Team, call 541-416-0215. If you’re interested in helping get the law revised, contact your state lawmakers.