International Rescue Dog Organization
| International Rescue Dog Organization (IRO) |
|
|---|---|
| founding | 1993 |
| Seat | Salzburg, Austria
|
| motto | Set standards. Save lives. |
| main emphasis | Rescue dog work |
| Action space | worldwide |
| Members | 123 |
| Website | www.iro-dogs.org |
The International Rescue Dog Organization (IRO) is the global umbrella organization for rescue dog work and a partner of the UN. It unites more than 250,000 people with around 2,000 tested rescue dogs worldwide. The seat is in Salzburg, Austria.
The task of the International Rescue Dog Organization is to train and certify highly qualified rescue dog teams and make them available as support units in an emergency. Thanks to their fine noses, dogs often become lifesavers after an avalanche accident, an earthquake or when searching for missing children or disoriented people with Alzheimer's or dementia. The more than 120 member organizations of the International Rescue Dog Organization are operational 365 days a year .
Organized as a non-profit association, the International Rescue Dog Organization has financed the professional training of rescue dogs with the help of donations since 1993.
The rescue dog competence
With their extremely fine sense of smell, dogs are essential in search missions, because in contrast to humans, four-legged friends have around 40 times the number of olfactory cells. The super noses can therefore show very precise positions of buried or missing people. Despite the rapidly advancing technical development, rescue dogs are still far superior to any search technology. Above all, the flexible application, the agility on difficult terrain and the irrepressible search drive characterize the four-legged friends.
education
Rescue dog training often begins at eight weeks of age. Courses, trainings and exams prepare the four-legged friends step by step for an emergency. IRO trains rescue dogs in the disciplines of tracking, area, avalanche, rubble and water search as well as mantrailing.
The first exam (V exam) tests, among other things, agility and nerve strength. The rescue dog teams can then face A and B tests.
numbers and facts
- Average duration of training: 2 - 3 years
- Number of IRO approved rescue dogs today: more than 2,000
- Number of trained IRO rescuers since 1993: ~ 35,000
- Cost of training a rescue dog: 20,000 euros
- National assignments completed per year: approx. 2000
commitment
A successfully completed B-examination enables participation in the mission test, called MRT (Mission Readiness Test). Every year the IRO offers at least one MRT in the area search and rubble search . Teams that have been assessed positively are thus well prepared for an emergency. Building national rescue dog capacities, especially in disaster-prone countries, is essential for the IRO. At the same time, international cooperation is becoming increasingly important in order to coordinate rescue dog teams as best as possible in the event of major disasters.
Use of IRO rescue dogs
The more than 120 member organizations of the International Rescue Dog Organization are available around the clock, 365 days a year. The following three missions with the participation of IRO rescue dog teams.
Hotel collapse after earthquake in Taiwan
On February 6, 2018, a fatal 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Taiwan. The incident brought down many buildings and numerous people were trapped under the rubble. Most of those buried were rescued within a few hours by civilians and the local fire department. However, missing persons were reported in two buildings, the Marshall Hotel and the Yun Men Tsui Ti residential complex. The IRO organizations TSSRT and TFSRD were on site with 20 rescue dog teams. Five of them recently received their MRI certification. The exhausting search was worth it and all the missing persons in the Marshall Hotel could be brought to safety. The Yun-Men-Tsui-Ti building tilted almost 30 degrees and was a particular challenge. The rescue dog teams searched collapsed, small rooms. Overturned furniture, wires and pipes made the search even more difficult.
Missing boy from Stopice
On May 9, 2018, shortly after midnight, the message came in that a 13-year-old boy from Stopice, a small town in southeastern Slovenia, was missing. Rescue dog handlers from the IRO organization ERPS were immediately on their way to the site and, after a short briefing and defining the strategy, started the search. Six area dog teams and a mantrailing team were in action. After only 25 minutes, the boy was found by one of the dogs behind a chapel. The parents were then informed and the boy was safely brought home.
Severe earthquake tremors in and around Mexico City
The earth shook again on the very day the commemoration of the 1985 earthquake took place. The tremors began on September 19, 2017 at 1:14 p.m. local time. The IRO organization PMPBR-UNAM searched nine different buildings with their rescue dogs, including a collapsed school. Rescue dog work was carried out in a total of 35 to 40 buildings. Since it was a major earthquake, Canadian and Argentine IRO teams were brought in towards the end of the mission.
Member organizations
Since it was founded in 1993, the number of member organizations of the IRO has grown steadily. There are currently 123 national rescue dog organizations in 42 countries around the world. In Austria alone there are ten organizations.
Events
The IRO organizes courses, trainings, international exams, field tests, competitions and the annual world championship for rescue dogs . Up to 150 rescue dog teams face the challenge of searching for tracks, areas and rubble at the World Cup. In 2018, a world championship in the avalanche search discipline took place for the first time. Real application scenarios are recreated with great effort, which the best of the best master impressively.
| year | venue |
|---|---|
| 2019 |
Paris , France
|
| 2018 |
Ljubljana , Slovenia
|
| 2018 |
Pitztal , Austria - avalanche
|
| 2017 |
Ebreichsdorf , Austria
|
| 2016 |
Turin , Italy
|
| 2015 |
Aalborg , Denmark
|
| 2014 |
Nova Gorica , Slovenia
|
| 2013 |
Nijmegen , the Netherlands
|
| 2012 |
Romny , Ukraine
|
| 2011 |
Chastre , Belgium
|
| 2010 |
Žatec , Czech Republic
|
In 2008, the IRO launched the International Rescue Dog Day, an initiative that gives rescue dog organizations the opportunity to present themselves and at the same time to give an insight into the valuable work they do with rescue dogs. Demonstrations, information events and test training sessions are organized all over the world under the motto “Ready for use 365 days a year”.
Structure of the organization
The International Rescue Dog Organization is based in Salzburg , Austria and currently employs seven people. The highest decision-making body of the IRO is the Assembly of Delegates. It is made up of national rescue dog organizations, the board and the presidium.
history
The 1988 Spitak earthquake in Armenia raised the question of international cooperation in the field of rescue dog services. As one of the worst earthquakes in the last decades, the impetus was to strive for better coordination between disaster relief workers, rescue dog organizations and authorities. As a result, the IRO was founded in 1993 with the aim of defining standards for the training and use of rescue dogs. Since the beginning, the IRO has been working with the UN to continuously develop and improve the rescue dog work.
Web links
- International Rescue Dog Organization website
- Website of the IRO World Championship for Rescue Dogs
- International Rescue Dog Day website
Individual evidence
- ↑ IRO membership directory (Status: 04.2020)