I came into the world of K9 search and rescue suddenly and naively, with a vision of wanting to help improve the world in some way. It's the morning of September 11, 2001, and the phone rings. To my surprise, it's my big brother who calls all the way from Stockholm. I...
Writing our adventure memoir has been quite the journey, and a different journey than Guy and I expected when we first decided to write A Dog's Devotion together. Now that we are approaching the final phases of actually publishing and marketing our book, doing an...
When detecting human remains at sites like the OSO landslide K( SAR involves more than just dog training. Soil, water flow, age and depth of burials all play a role.
I began my SAR career focused on becoming the best K9 handler that I could be, Guy was drawn to the navigation and wilderness skills needed for SAR missions.
Sometimes we give up. Sometimes on SAR missions we return day after day, then week after week, without finding our lost person. The search is called off. Volunteers leave the scene in quiet resignation. Families leave the scene in despair. In the last six months here...
My very first article was published in a professional magazine (HRMagazine) almost exactly thirty years ago and it was titled: The Case For Valuing Diversity. At the time I was a young, idealistic first woman executive in a male-dominated utility and someone committed...
Search and rescue folks, like first responders, maintain an emotional distance from the pain of the families, but we still need to check ourselves now and then.
It’s a K9 team’s worst nightmare. The mission is over; the subject not found. Then, a day, a month, or a year later, you hear that remains were found in the area you were assigned to. Oh my God. What did we do wrong? Probably nothing. Many of us in SAR are familiar...
On a cold morning in February 1980, a father and son are working their way along Fly Creek, about 20 miles north of the Oregon border. Seeking promising-looking gravel, they stop here and there, digging small holes along the riverbank. The son kneels; the shovel bites...
I am sitting at my desk in my home office looking out over a foggy Puget Sound. A cold pack is wrapped around my foot, a hot pack strapped on to my shoulder, my face mask is hanging on it’s hook ready to cover my nose and mouth if I have to venture out from the safety...