National Fire Agency (NFA) signed an MOU with Bundesverband Rettungshunde e.V. (BHR) of Germany today, another after the MOU signed with Japan’s Rescue Dog Trainers’ Association in Feb. Dr. Jörg Polster of German Institute Taipei was invited to witness the signing and attend the opening ceremony of BHR office at NFA training center. NFA indicated that they will be dedicated themselves to build a platform for international rescue dog training and interactions.
Founded in 1976, BRH is the most historical and largest rescue dog organization in Germany with approximately 2,000 members. More than 700 rescue dogs have acquired their certification. A team of rescue dogs and their handlers was sent to Taiwan for help in the wake of the 921 Earthquake. BRH invited a few Taiwan’s rescue dogs for training in Germany in 2016, and was invited for a training program in Taiwan in 2017, marking the inception of mutual interactions and cooperation. However, the COVID pandemic forced the efforts to stop for more than three years. This March, Mr. Ulrike Gehner, vice president of BRH, and a team of instructors were invited to Taiwan for a week of cooperative training, focusing on rubble search and tracking.
The IRO international evaluation held by NFA from Mar 14 to 16 provided the rescue dog certification by international judges for the dogs’ rubble search competency. At the end, 12 teams passed the IRO-B and 8 passed IRO-A with flying colors. This interactive training program is believed to be fruitful, since BRH was once an IRO world champion. In addition, BRH started the training of searching for lost people in early 1980s. A rescue dog trained for tracking can tell the tracks of those who are lost and others, and find the lost as people shed skin fragments and spread unique odors. The experience NFA learned from BRH will help the development of tracking training programs for canine rescue units and the improvement of rescue efficiency for domestic mountain accidents.
The BRH MOU signing, office opening ceremony, and the cooperative training help promote the cooperative relationship between Germany and Taiwan in terms of rescue dogs, and improve the skills of rubble search and tracking in Taiwan, a win-win for both Germany and Taiwan. The international recue dog training and interaction platform built by NFA will keep encouraging the interactions and cooperation with countries around the world.