Who Uses Our Services?

State/County/Federal Emergency Management Agencies

• McLean County EMA
• llinois EMA
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Law Enforcement

• Town of Normal Police Department
• Mason County Sheriff
• Tazwell County Sheriff
• Illinois State Police

Other Emergency Management Agencies/Public Service Agencies

• Springfield Fire Department
• Town of Normal Fire Department

In general, there are several types of search dogs that are commonly used in this part of the country. These include: Area Search, Disaster, Cadaver, and Trailing. Each type focuses on a specialized use.

In general, properly trained search dogs can help find:

1. Lost children in the wilderness or urban areas
2. Overdue hunters, hikers, or fisherman
3. Despondent persons
4. Nursing home residents who walk away
5. Persons under collapsed structures or in disaster debris
6. Drowning victims
7. Human remains detection in a variety of contexts (water, buried, crime scene evidence)

The type of situation or incident will dictate the type of search dog that is most useful. Often times a situation may call for several types of search dog teams to work together or to work in succession. For example, a disaster response would first utilize our live-find disaster teams, followed by our cadaver teams trained for disaster response.