Not sure exactly how many this will apply too but if it does then here you go.

Recently The two handlers and there MWD's (Military Working Dogs) that i have deployed with and myself went through MEDEVAC Training. Basicly training for that .5% chance that it could happen. The reason i said it might not apply to some is that i know some LEO departments are very strict on the view that a K9 is just a piece of equipment and would have you drive rather then fly and risk the health of the dog.

Basically the training was worked out to three steps. We had a lot of time and had been talking to the MEDEVAC guys for a bit so we just made one long day of it (that and i was the only one to be hoisted up).

First Part of Training: The first part of training was class work and creating a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for both party's. Talk about what needs to happen and what can not happen. Teach the Medics and flight crew about safty around your K9 and they should teach you about Safty around and in the helicopter, they should also go over hand and arm signals considering the noise will be to loud to talk over for the most part. One thing that we had to clear up with the Medic is that if the MWD had to be extracted with a hoist then the handler would have to ride up with the MWD on the hoist and not the Medic, reasoning for this is clear to us but not to them, you need to explain to them exactly why it is. The reasoning for them needing to take the dog up on the hoist is that they train for months on that and they are the only ones qualified to be on it be them selfs, so with us going up with are MWD pretty much went the opposite way of all their training. After explaining why we needed to accompany are MWD's up they completly understood and the plan from that point was the Medic come down and hook the handler and MWD in the hoist and from there call down the helicopter again and hook the cable up to the hoist and once we where lifted and in the helicopter then they would lower the cable back down to the Medic and from there we would be good to go.





The Second Part of Training: The second part is familiarization with the K9 and the Helicopter. You should go with your K9 into the Helicopter and Sit down, just hang out in it for a few minutes make sure your dog is calm and relaxed. Do this a few times with the Helicopter off. The next step is to do this with the blades spinning and see how your dog does with the noise and the wind hitting him/her in the face on the way to the helicopter. The main thing is to teach the dog that the helicopter is a safe place. Nothing bad can happen to him/her in there.

Next you need to get the crew familiar with your K9's. Now this is another part where LEO K9 and MWD's differ, we do not socialize are dogs with anyone besides are own handlers. So i think you all have a hand up on us with this one, basicly we had to socialize are dogs so they knew that anyone in the helicopter was a good guy and we also socialized them in the office a bit so they would also get use to the uniform.





The Third Part of Training: Now the third part of training is the actual lift and air time with the K9. But first if you are going to use a hoist this is where you practice with the helicopter on the grown getting the hoist on yourself and the K9 hooked up and left the foot off the ground just so you can see what it is like to be "weightless" for that small lift before you do 10, 25, 50 feet.

Once that is all set up you are ready to go out and do the real thing.

Afther this is all said and typed up i do relise that the chances that a LEO K9 would need to use a hoist is even less then what the military would need. But there is always a chance. That chance being if your K9 suffers a injury in the back yard of a suspects house. For some reason you cant get to a vehicles the fastest way to get your dog to the Vet is to Medevac out useing a hoist. Likely? Not really. Possible? Anything is possible. But for the most part if you are going to need a MEDEVAC the helicopter will land and you will load your K9 from the ground rather then the hoist.












One problem with the hoist is this. We have a harness just for this, it is very well made and does its job to standard, the problem is that the dogs are not a fan of getting in and it pretty much puts pressure all over the bod of the dog. The problem is that if the dog is injured then he is not going to be cooperative about being put in the harness. The only thing i can think of is that you are going to have to hurt your dog to help him. Sounds cruel but you do what you need to, to save his life.



Bottom line is if you can take something from this training, i am glad i can help, if there isn't anything you can take from it, well then you have a little insight as to what is going on over on this side.

Outstanding job Mike! Thanks for including the photos!!!!

Wow! Very cool and very impressive

I'm so afraid of heights the thought of dangling out of a helicopter makes me feel ill My hat's off to you.

Thanks for posting this.

There certainly are benefits to acquainting dogs and handlers to loading, riding and disembarking from Helo's. We conduct training on "hot loads". The canine members that are on SWAT have practiced rapelling (although we've not yet tried fast rope with a dog). We also provide the service to the SAR groups in the area, which has included the safety briefing, practice hot loads and short flights.

DFrost

Matt, Sara, David,

Thanks for the kind words, it defently was a good experience.

David,

Actually on the 29th we are going to be conducting some controlled aggression training, where the helicopter lands in a "hostile" area and myself and my MWD jump off real fast and then i would send my dog out on a bite.

It should be interesting and i will have some photos from that too i am sure.

Edited by Michael West (11/26/2007 10:00 AM)
Edit reason: Edited for spelling.

 Quote: michael west

Matt, Sara, David,

Actually on the 29th we are going to be conducting some controlled aggression training, where the helicopter lands in a "hostile" area and myself and my MWD jump off real fast and then i would send my dog out on a bite.

Cool photos

Sounds like a great upcoming exersice!

I love getting to work around helicopters!

Because in most cases of winter avalanche rescue we will be brought in by helicopter we do as much training around them as we can afford

We heli-bomb at my ski hill (avalanche control work) a few times a month and since we have already paid for the helicopter, we squeek in some dog rides. We drive to the hanger and take the incomeing flight to the ski hill as it does not cost anything extra (the heli has to fly there anyway).

We get helpers to set up searches right adjacent to the LZ. then we can simulate getting out of the heli and going directly into a search.

This is great so the dogs are accustom to flying, hot loading and exiting, and to make the association that heli=search. Time is of the essence if someone is burried of course. It is also GREAT distraction training to search during while an explosives mission is going on all around

Can't wait to see the new pics from your bitework heli exercise Michael. Your helis are considerably bigger and nicer than what we civilians have acccess to

 Quote:

We have a harness just for this, it is very well made and does its job to standard, the problem is that the dogs are not a fan of getting in and it pretty much puts pressure all over the bod of the dog. The problem is that if the dog is injured then he is not going to be cooperative about being put in the harness. The only thing i can think of is that you are going to have to hurt your dog to help him. Sounds cruel but you do what you need to, to save his life.

I thought the harness you have looks quite supportive. Relatively speaking of course. I have seen some of the tactical insertion harnesses that are way less supportive than the one you show, especially in the back end.

I would hate to have to put a harness on one of your tough military dogs when they were injured however Might be painful for both of you

I understand the difficulty of putting these harnesses on. In my job we need to train for the possiblity that if a chailift breaks down we must evacuate ourselves and our dogs from the chair. Getting a harness on the dog on a bench 40 ft in the air can be a bit of a struggle

We need to purchase a new harness this year. I would love to start a thread on what harnesses folks suggest and like....maybe I will do that

 Quote: michael west

Matt, Sara, David,

Thanks for the kind words, it defently was a good experience.

David,

Actually on the 29th we are going to be conducting some controlled aggression training, where the helicopter lands in a "hostile" area and myself and my MWD jump off real fast and then i would send my dog out on a bite.

It should be interesting and i will have some photos from that too i am sure.

That would be neat. It's been many years since I've done that. I no longer have the desire. ha ha. I'm glad there are young guys like you that want to do that sort of training and deployment if your are needed.

DFrost

Sweet Pictures Michael. Looks like winter has set in on that side of the big pond... Keep us posted on the next flight training...Very Interesting.

Michael,

Found your piece very informative !!! Keep up the good work.