Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 6, December 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
39F.040(3),
39F.050(3)(c),
39F.070(3)(c),
39F.120(8),
39F.200,
39F.210
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
39F.200 and
39F.210
authorize the division to establish minimum training requirements for persons
engaged in search and rescue activities. This administrative regulation
establishes minimum training requirements for a general rescue squad, or a
specialized rescue squad, and a local search and rescue coordinator.
Section 1. Definition. "Successfully
complete" means to attend or participate in search and rescue training and
acquire and submit to a local director a copy of an instructor-provided
training completion certificate or record.
Section 2. Minimum training requirements for
a local search and rescue coordinator, or a search dog handler, shall be to
successfully complete:
(1) A twenty (20) hour
division offered search and rescue course or equivalent;
(2) A twenty (20) hour division offered
search management course; and
(3)
An incident command or incident management system (ICS or IMS) training course
of at least eight (8) hours covering the eight (8) component elements of an
incident command system or incident management system, to include practical
application, and to include a search and rescue module.
Section 3. The minimum training requirements
for a single-handler rescue squad utilizing dogs and specializing in a search
for lost, trapped, or missing persons shall be:
(1) An incident command training course to
the level of ICS 200; and
(2) A
twenty (20) hour division offered search and rescue course or
equivalent.
Section 4.
Minimum training requirements for members of a rescue squad specializing in
cave rescue shall be to successfully complete:
(1) The National Cave Rescue Commission
(NCRC) offered Cave Rescue Orientation Course or its equivalent; and
(2) A National Cave Rescue Commission offered
Cave Operations and Management Seminar or its equivalent for squad members who
manage response to cave rescues.
Section 5. Minimum training requirements for
members of a search and rescue squad specializing in search for lost, trapped,
or missing persons shall be to successfully complete:
(1) An incident command training course, to
the level of ICS 200; and
(2) A
twenty (20) hour division offered search and rescue course or equivalent. This
requirement shall apply to all rescue squads that utilize dogs, including a
single-handler rescue squad as established in Section 3 of this administrative
regulation.
Section 6.
Minimum training requirements for members of a rescue squad specializing in
dive rescue and recovery shall be:
(1)
Certification in open water by one (1) of the following nationally recognized
organizations or equivalents:
(a)
International Diving Educators Association (IDEA);
(b) Multinational Diving Educators
Association (MDEA);
(c) National
Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI);
(d) National Association of SCUBA Diving
Schools (NASDS);
(e) National
Association of SCUBA Instructors (NASI);
(f) Professional Association of Diving
Instructors (PADI);
(g)
Professional Diving Instructors Corporation (PDIC);
(h) SCUBA Schools International
(SSI);
(i) United States Navy
(USN);
(j) YMCA National SCUBA
Program (YMCA); or
(k) Dive Rescue
International; and
(2)
Annually, a minimum of ten (10) hours underwater training in rescue diving
techniques developed and administered by the individual organization
specializing in water rescue utilizing divers.
Section 7. A rescue squad specializing in
urban search and rescue shall meet standards developed by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, Urban Search and Rescue Program, or equivalent.
Section 8. The minimum training, testing, and
certification requirements for search dog evaluators, search dogs, and handlers
shall be:
(1) The handler shall be at least
eighteen (18) years of age;
(2)
Annual testing of search dogs include the following:
(a) The dog shall demonstrate its ability to
overcome obstacles;
(b) The dog
shall not be trained in attack methods;
(c) The dog shall not show aggression to
other dogs or individuals;
(d) The
dog shall obey verbal or nonverbal commands by the handler;
(e) The dog shall give a recognizable
found-victim indication or alert;
(f) The dog shall demonstrate its obedience
by performing a long-sit or down;
(g) The dog shall be left in a sitting
position and at the direction of the evaluator; the handler shall down his or
her dog with a hand or voice signal;
(h) During an open terrain search (air
scenting) the handler and dog shall be given a minimum of one (1) hour to
locate one (1) subject in fifteen (15) to twenty-five (25) acres of a forested
area.
1. The handler shall provide a search
plan as well as a description of the dog's alert of finding the subject to the
evaluators.
2. The team shall pass
all requirements.
3. This test may
be conducted day or night, depending on conditions; and
(i) During a hasty search (air scenting), the
team shall have a maximum of fifteen (15) minutes to perform this test.
1. The dog shall locate a victim within
twenty (20) feet of a quarter-mile (1/4 mi.) trail.
2. The location of the subject shall be
unknown to the handler.
3. The
handler shall provide a description of the dog's alert of finding the subject
to the evaluators.
4. The handler
shall not leave the trail until the dog provides its alert;
(3) Testing for tracking
or trailing dogs shall consist of at least the following:
(a) A trailing dog team shall successfully
complete a four (4) hour old, one (1) mile long trail and establish the correct
direction of travel within the first fifty (50) yards.
1. The trail shall be in a contaminated area
with more than two (2) turns with multiple cross tracks.
2. The dog team shall be presented with a
scent article such as a sock, shoe, hat, or jacket, in a clear plastic or paper
bag located in a marked minimum four (4) foot square area. Both the square and
the bag containing the scent article shall be identified so that both items can
be matched.
3. The trail layer
shall have the matching identifying marking, material, or signage identifying
the trail layer as the matching subject of the scent article bag that was
presented to the dog team, ensuring that the dog team has located the correct
subject.
4. The dog team shall have
one (1) hour to complete this test;
(b) Testing for tracking dogs shall consist
of a minimum of three (3) to a maximum of five (5) of the following terrains:
(c) The track shall be a minimum of thirty
(30) minutes and a maximum of one (1) hour old, with a minimum length of 700
yards and a maximum length of 900 yards.
1.
There shall be one (1) scent article placed along the track and the dog shall
locate the article.
2. The tracking
team shall be given a starting point by the evaluator.
3. There shall be one (1) cross track laid.
This person shall remain in the area of the actual track, but at a distance of
200 yards from the actual track-layer. This cross-track may be laid prior to,
or after, the actual track.
4.
There shall be a forty-five (45) minute time limit to complete the
track.
5. The team shall
successfully pass this certification by locating the actual track-layer,
locating the scent article placed along trail, and staying within 10 (ten) feet
of the track.
6. GPS (Global
Positioning System) shall be used to determine track accuracy and
distance.
7. If it is obvious to
the evaluator the dog is not tracking, the evaluator may stop the
test;
(4) The
following shall be the minimum testing requirements for search dog handlers:
(a) The handler and dog shall be
compatible;
(b) The handler shall
be able to recognize when his or her dog is alerting on human scent;
(c) The handler shall inform the evaluators
of the characteristics of the dog's alert; and
(d) The handler shall demonstrate his or her
ability to work and control the dog;
(5) Testing of search dogs shall be conducted
annually between August 1 and November 30;
(6) The organization, association, or handler
shall submit a letter requesting to be tested to the Division of Emergency
Management that contains:
(a) Full name of the
organization, association or handler requesting to be tested;
(b) Address for correspondence with the
organization, association, or handler requesting to be tested; and
(c) Name of the individual who shall serve as
the point of contact for the organization, association, or handler requesting
to be tested;
(7) If it
is determined during the test by the search dog evaluator that a dog fails to
alert on an obvious find or fails to meet the requirements as established in
subsections (2) and (3) of this section, the handler and dog shall be given one
(1) opportunity to retest the dog during the same test date;
(a) In the event of a retest, a different
search dog evaluator shall be utilized for the retest.
(b) Search dog evaluators shall not evaluate
any dog or handler from their organization, association, or group.
(c) If the dog or handler fails the retest,
they may retest at the next annual testing date.
(8) Evaluators utilized for the conduct of
all search dog tests shall be appointed by the state search and rescue
coordinator from a list of individuals supplied by the search dog associations,
organizations, or groups headquartered in Kentucky or individual search dog
handlers residing in Kentucky.
(a) A letter of
recommendation for search dog evaluators from search dog organizations,
associations, or groups, or individual search and rescue dog handlers for
search dog evaluators shall be submitted annually to the search and rescue
coordinator no later than 30 July.
(b) A search dog test evaluator shall have at
least a minimum of five (5) years' experience and have met all training
requirements as established in Section 2 of this administrative
regulation;
(9) An
individual, agency, organization, or association, public or private, who
provides or who advertises to provide search dogs for any search and rescue
mission shall comply with Section 2 of this administrative regulation and
subsections (2) and (3) of this section.
(a)
An individual, agency, organization, or association, public or private, who has
not met the requirements of Section 2 of this administrative regulation and
subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall be considered an
"apprentice".
(b) The decision to
utilize any "apprentice" dog handler or dog on a search mission shall be at the
discretion of the county search and rescue coordinator.
1. If there is a state-certified dog handler
on-scene, the county search and rescue coordinator shall consult with the
state-certified dog handler prior to making any decision to utilize an
apprentice dog or handler.
2. If
there is more than one (1) state-certified dog handler on-scene, the county
search and rescue coordinator only needs to consult with one (1) certified dog
handler; and
(10) The certification length for a search
dog handler who successfully meets all requirements shall be valid for two (2)
years. The certification length for a search dog that meets all requirements
shall be valid for two (2) years.
Section 9. Minimum training requirements for
members of a rescue squad specializing in high angle rescue shall be to
successfully complete:
(1) A basic rope rescue
course as taught by the Kentucky Community Technical and College System, State
Fire Rescue Training Program or equivalent;
(2) An intermediate rope rescue course as
taught by the Kentucky Community Technical and College System, State Fire
Rescue Training Program or equivalent, for those members responsible to perform
extrication of both conscious and incapacitated patients, to establish and
operate simple mechanical advantage systems, to control and direct the lowering
of a packaged patient, to use ascenders to maintain mobility and control on
rope, and to perform as a litter attendant and maintain mobility and control;
and
(3) An advanced rope rescue
course as taught by the Kentucky Community Technical and College System, State
Fire Rescue Training Program or equivalent, for those members responsible to
establish complex mechanical advantage systems, to perform rescue operations in
limited light conditions, to operate rappel or lowering systems while using
self-contained breathing apparatus or supplied air systems such as may be used
in hazardous atmospheres, to establish and operate highline systems, and to
establish and operate tripod and high directional systems.
Section 10. The role and training of rescue
squad support personnel shall be the responsibility of the individual rescue
squad and shall be identified in a locally-written guideline or
procedure.
Section 11. Level of
medical training for each rescue squad member shall be:
(1) The responsibility of each rescue squad;
and
(2) Identified in a
locally-written guideline or procedure.
Section 12. Material Incorporated by
Reference.
(1) The following material is
incorporated by reference:
(a) "Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Urban Search & Rescue
(US&R) Response System Rescue Field Operations Guide (US&R-23-FG)",
September 15, 2006; and
(b)
"Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Urban Search & Rescue
(US&R) Response System Field Operations Guide (US&R-2-FG)", September
25, 2003.
(2) This
material may be inspected, copied, or obtained, subject to applicable copyright
law, at the Department of Military Affairs, Division of Emergency Management,
100 Minuteman Parkway, Boone National Guard Center, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601,
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS
39A.050(2)(m),
39A.070(3),
39F.200,
39F.210