Sarasota K-9 Search and Rescue are professional volunteers who
have an integrity and commitment to our fellow mankind to be
organized in their training and skills and to form a strong bond
of teamwork in order to have the safest and most positive
outcome of any search mission.Finding the Lost
Sarasota K-9 Search and Rescue, Inc. (SSAR) is a group of highly
trained volunteers who help in the location of missing persons.
They are recognized by the following agencies: Sarasota County
Emergency Services, the State of Florida, the Division of
Forestry, the Florida Fire Chiefs Association Disaster Response,
and Region Six.
SSAR provides highly skilled personnel and their search dogs,
which are available at any time through the 911 system. They are
on-call, ready for rapid deployment with air-scent dogs and
bloodhounds that are trained by the Law Enforcement Bloodhound
Association (LEBA).
Ongoing training is provided to these teams by the following
agencies:
Sarasota County Fire Department and Venice Fire Department
- First Responder
- Mass Casualties
- Haz Mat Awareness
- Ladder Truck
The Division of Forestry
Incident Command System
- Wild land Fire Survival
- Wild land Fire Behavior Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office
- Tactical Search and Rescue (disasters)
- Crime Scene Recognition and Preservation
- Human Remains Detection (land and water) SSAR team members
and their dogs are available to provide educational programs;
which include responsible pet ownership, preparing pets for a
disaster, and teaching children how to assist in their own
recovery if they are lost.
On March 11, 2003, four team members of Sarasota K-9 Search
and Rescue were deployed to eastern Texas to assist in the
recovery efforts for the Space Shuttle, Columbia. As part of the
Florida State Task Force 4, they spent a total of 16
days in the field, often searching in very difficult conditions.
The highlight of their search efforts came on March 19, 2003,
when their Task Force discovered the main Space Shuttle “black
box” flight recorder. This was a total Team effort and
exemplified the total professionalism of this Task Force.
Each year the Governor’s Hurricane Conference presents several
prestigious awards. The SSAR were awarded the First Responder
Award at the Governor’s Hurricane Conference held in Tampa,
Florida June 9–13, 2003. The First Responder Award is given to
an individual or an organization serving as a first responder
who has made an outstanding contribution in the field of
hurricane emergency response in the State of Florida.
