Based in Licking County, Ohio, O.R.D.A. (Ohio Rescue Dog Association) was founded in January of 2000. Set up as a non-profit with the State of Ohio # 1137640, and a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization, O.R.D.A. responds to calls of lost and missing persons from local, state, and federal agencies in Ohio and surrounding states as well as mutual aid calls from other search and rescue teams. O.R.D.A. K-9 is on call twenty four hours a day, 365 days a year, regardless of weather conditions or circumstances..
There is NEVER a fee for our services.
Each dog lives with, is owned, and trained by the individual handler. It takes approximately 600 hours of training before the dogs becomes "operational". Our field training imitates real life search senarios such as wilderness, water, and human remains.
Some of our dogs are trained as "Air Scenters" to find any human scent in an area. The airscent dog works off lead from the handler and will work into the air current until the source of the scent if located. Other dogs are trained to be "Trackers and Trailers". These dogs are used to establish a direction of travel when a last known point is available. These dogs use a scent article which can be a piece of clothing, pillow case, shoe etc. The dog is introduced to the scent article and will located the scent and "track or trail" until the subject is located.
Trained search dogs can be an effective resource when trained and used appropriately.
1 trained search dog replaces 24 human searchers. The reason for this is the dogs olfactory sensory cells. A human has approximately 5 million of these sensory cells. A dog can have up to 220 million of the olfactory sensory cells. The human body sheds 40,000 skin cells per minute called "rafts". These skin cells are what trained search dogs use to locate the subject using the different search disciplines each dog has been trained in. We simply fine tune the dog's natural ability to use it's nose.
It takes approximately 1000 hours of training for the handlers, navigators, and base camp operators. Some of the skills needed to be a SAR professional include mapping, compass, survival, first aid/CPR and GPS.
Each team member and K9 is trained in one or more of the following areas:
Air Scenting
Cadaver/HRD (Water & Land)
Trailing/Tracking
Topographical map reading
Compass Orienteering
GPS-Global Positioning System
First Aid/CPR
K9 First Aid
Open Water Rescue Diving
Swift Water Rescue
Search Patterns & Techniques
Lost Person Behavior
Crime Scene Preservation
Radio Operations and Communications
Our team members have completed the following certifications: National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR) Introduction to Search and Rescue (ISAR), Search and Rescue Technician (SAR Tech), SAR 200 Indiana Department of Homeland Security, FEMA IC 100, 200, 700, 800. First Aid/CPR and AED, Crime Scene Preservation. Lost Person Behavior and Search Management.
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This we do....."so that others may live
