National disaster control

I.S.A.R. Germany e.V. is involved in national disaster control in various municipalities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

In addition to I.S.A.R. Germany's rescue dogs, which also search for people buried under rubble in major international emergencies, we also deploy so-called missing person detection dogs (also known as mantrailers) and water search dogs.

The young dogs are introduced to their future task in a playful way from the age of 12 - 16 weeks. Building on this, the level of difficulty is carefully increased until the dog is motivated and reliably masters various levels of the missing dog search. On average, the team trains for several hours two to three times a week. After two and a half to three years, the training is completed with an operational test. The dogs then continue to train regularly with their handlers in order to maintain the high level of training. After successfully passing the test, the dogs are able to locate missing persons both on land and on the water. The work of the rescue dog handlers and trainers in this area is purely voluntary. With around three training sessions a week, the training of the dogs and rescue teams is extremely time-consuming.

In addition to the rescue dogs, I.S.A.R. Germany also uses technical localisation equipment, such as a listening device and a search camera. This enables the exact location of the buried person under the rubble to be determined and the appropriate rescue measures to be organised accordingly.

The provision of the camera drone by I.S.A.R. Germany with trained and authorised pilots for qualified reconnaissance of the deployment site represents a special - and unusual - component of national assistance.

Other specialised equipment, such as a concrete chain saw or a core drill, is also used by I.S.A.R. Germany e.V. in the event of a disaster.

All national missions are free of charge for the requesting authority and are financed by donations.