The Squad Briefing

By: Christy Bormann and Macie Thompson

In our first Disaster Scene Safety Blog we broke down the FEMA scene safety questions that you should be asking when you first arrive to a search scene. Those questions help you orient yourself to your environment. In this blog we will cover how to brief the people that will be acting as safeties while you work. If they’re not USAR canine handlers, they don’t know what you need. It’s critical that you can communicate well with the team to ensure that safety procedures are observed during the search.

Ideally, you’ve worked with the team before. This is not the time to wonder if the person you asked to save your dog’s life will do the right things in the heat of the moment. And there’s a lot that you just can’t learn from a briefing. If I ask someone to keep my dog from jumping off into a void, will they actually be able to do that? Is this person really going to be engaged the whole time I’m working, or will they be taking pictures with their phone and wandering away? Will they remember how to call the dog if it’s headed for a hazard? Will my dog understand them when they call?

Introduce yourself and Your Canine Partner

If you are working with people you have never worked with before, you need to introduce yourself and your dog. Let them know what your dog is searching for and explain your dog’s trained final response. This is especially important if you are working with a non-FEMA team that has no experience with how our dogs work. Our dogs are trained to work out of our sight, and we work in loud environments. It’s possible your spotters will hear or see your dog alert when you can’t. They need to know it’s an important behavior and that they need to tell you if they hear the dog barking.

Where is your Leash and Collar?

Our canines typically work without leashes or collars on. We do not want the collar to get caught on the debris they are searching through. Your team needs to know where your leash and collar will be located. If something happens to you, they will need to be able to leash up your dog and take it back to the crate. Many of the cool tactical collars have tricky clasps. If you have one, be sure you show your team how it works. You don’t want them to be fumbling around with the collar in an emergency. If you have some down time, have people practice.

Where is your Muzzle?

If your canine is seriously injured during the search, you will need to be able to muzzle them. “But my dog is not aggressive! He would NEVER bite anyone!” Listen I get it, but here’s the thing: If your dog is in a tremendous amount of pain, he will bite. And someone will get hurt. Very seriously hurt. You need to have a muzzle with you when you are searching. There is no time to run back to your vehicle and find it. It should be with you in the field. You need to show your team how to use it. If they aren’t canine handlers, they have probably never used one before and during an event is not the time to try and figure it out. Take the time to show them how to put it on. If you have the time, ask them to put it on the dog. That way they have touched it and really know how it works. Make sure they know where to find it on you.

What should the Team keep an eye out for?

Just as discussed in Disaster Scene Safety, you need to be able to communicate with your squad members which things are actually hazardous to your dog. It depends on the search type, but you want to hit the high points. Non-canine handlers may not realize that your dog will try to jump from the first floor into the basement if they’re following scent. Or realize that they could chase small animals or fight with loose dogs. You need to tell them about those kind of hazards as well as chemicals and void spaces.

Explain to your team what you want them to do if they find a hazard while searching. Do I want them to tell me about it or just call the dog away from it? I like to have my teammates tell me about loose animals or if they see my dog eating or drinking something in the search area. I want them to call or stop the dog if there’s a void space I haven’t seen. This part of the discussion should be a lot of “If this…, then that…” statements.

How can the team help manage your dog?

Your squad needs to know how to help you with your dog. My dog is a big runner, if we are doing wide area, he ranges far and fast, especially if he has odor. I need my team to help me keep him in sight. If my spotter sees the dog leave my visual field and they can see the dog I want them to yell out that they can see him and point in the direction of the dog, just like you would point at a hazard in the water when you’re on a boat. They should also communicate when they can no longer see the dog and what direction he was moving in. Your dog may work differently, how can your safety spotter’s best help you when you are working?

What commands can the team use with your dog?

All FEMA canines have trained an emergency stop and a recall. Make sure your team knows what those commands are for your dog and when would be appropriate to use them. Is it just a verbal command or should they use a hand signal? It’s likely that you and your teammates all look similar at a distance. Especially when you’re all in full PPE. How will your dog know which person to go to? What will they do to stop your dog if it’s headed toward a hazard and a recall isn’t the answer? What should they do if your dog starts to eat something? Are you comfortable with them verbally correcting your dog? Should they attempt to call the dog off or physically move them from the area? Is it safe for your team to physically grab your dog if there is a real “oh shit” moment during a search?

What happens if your dog is injured?

If a dog is seriously injured, who will help you get the dog and take immediate triage steps? If you have to carry them out of the search are, how will you do that? How far will you be from a transport vehicle? Can you carry your dog that far? Will others need to help you? Do they need to know how to safely carry the dog? Will you be carrying an emergency litter with you? Our teams have fabric litters that can be used to carry the dog in an emergency. They can be shoved in a BDU pocket or backpack. Your team needs to know if you have one and where it will be kept.

Where are you headed for appropriate critical care? Not every clinic can deal with high level emergency care for things like bloat, impalements, or severe lacerations and blood loss. You need to have identified where you will transport to before you begin searching. Be sure everyone on the team knows their role in the event of an emergency. Who grabs the dog? Who will help carry the dog if needed? Where will the transport vehicle be? Who will drive and do they know where they are going? If there is air transport available, who is responsible for radioing for support? All of this should be established before the dog comes out of the crate.

What happens if you are injured?

Your team needs to know what to do if something happens to you. It’s entirely possible that you will be injured the very first second you step off the truck to start searching. If that happens, what happens with your dog? What happens if you are in the middle of a search when you are injured? If you’re headed to a hospital, your dog isn’t going with you.

You should assign one or two people that you trust that will be responsible for taking care of your dog. Ideally this is another canine handler or someone that has an existing relationship with your dog. Determine before the search, will they be responsible just for getting the dog out of the field and to someone else or are they taking care of the dog until you return? If you are seriously injured and a long term hospital stay is possible, do you have someone that will take care of the dog more long term. Make sure you have instructions for the care of your canine partner somewhere accessible where your gear is staged.

Be aware, dogs can act very differently when their handlers are injured. Some may show very little notice, but others can get protective of their injured handler. If you know how your dog will respond, it’s important to communicate that to your team and make sure there is a way to safely separate you and your canine partner.

What is the canine decon plan?

We know, this was covered in Part 1 as well, but it’s really important when your dog may be going back to a crate where they could lick contaminates off their feet. How will you decon your dog after searching? Where are the needed supplies? Be sure your squad has this information too. They may need to decon your dog if you are injured. If possible, make sure decon is set up before you start searching. You don’t want to have your dog covered in a caustic agent and in pain while the team tries to find the supplies needed to neutralize it.

Good communication is a skill like any other. You and your team should practice these briefings. Make yourself a cue card and carry it with you. The first few times you do a squad briefing will feel slow and clunky. You will get better with practice. You don’t want to rush in to do a “quick search” and wind up in a bad situation. Take the time to communicate and everyone will be safer in the long run.

Disaster Scene Safety Part 2