Avon Fire & Rescue Service has hosted its first national search dog training course.

Avon Fire & Rescue Service has hosted its first national search dog training course at Hicks Gate Fire Station, bringing together specialist new handlers and dogs from across the country to help develop future search dog capabilities and strengthen the UK’s national resilience. 

Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams play a vital role within the fire and rescue service, responding to major incidents such as building collapses, natural disasters and large-scale transport incidents where people may be trapped. Alongside specialist rescue equipment and highly trained technicians, search dogs provide a valuable capability by helping teams locate casualties quickly and efficiently. 

In a fire and rescue environment, human scent dogs can be deployed to search large areas of rubble, collapsed structures or other challenging environments where locating a casualty may be difficult or time-consuming for crews. Their ability to rapidly detect and indicate the presence of a human’s scent can significantly assist rescue teams in finding and accessing casualties as quickly as possible. 

As part of this pioneering initiative, Avon Fire & Rescue Service welcomed handlers from Buckinghamshire, West Yorkshire, London Fire Brigade, Leicester and Norfolk Fire & Rescue Services for an intensive five-day training programme. 

Throughout the exercise, the dogs took part in a variety of activities designed to develop their searching and indication skills. The training focused on teaching the dogs to search an environment and locate a favourite toy or ball, rewarding them when they successfully found it. 

The exercise also provided an opportunity for services to share expertise and establish a consistent approach to training future search dogs and handlers. By working together, fire and rescue services can strengthen the UK’s ability to respond to major incidents requiring specialist search and rescue capabilities. 

Avon Fire & Rescue Service currently has two human scent dogs, Blue and Buddy, who form part of the Service’s specialist USAR capability. 

Rachel King, Avon Dog Handler, said: “This training exercise marks an important milestone in the development of search dog capabilities within the UK fire and rescue sector. By bringing together handlers and dogs from across the country, we are helping to build specialist skills, share best practice and ensure these dogs can play a key role in supporting rescue operations when they are needed most.” 

The exercise highlights Avon Fire & Rescue Service’s commitment to collaboration, innovation and maintaining the specialist capabilities required to protect communities both locally and nationally.

Fire and rescue services use dogs in several specialist roles. Some dogs support Fire Investigation (FI) teams by helping detect the presence of ignitable products at fire scenes, while human scent dogs are trained to locate live people using their sense of smell.