The 'Dog Search and Rescue Workshop', implemented by Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, has come to an end. In the workshop held under the coordination of the Metropolitan Municipality Fire Brigade Department, there were expert speakers from many cities outside of Mersin; Istanbul, Ankara, Adana, Antalya, Eskişehir, Muğla and Tekirdağ Fire Department Heads, veterinarians from Mersin Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, experts from Mersin Provincial Gendarmerie Command, from Gümüşhane University, Turkey's only civil defense and firefighting department. and academicians from Mersin University.
Metropolitan's Dog Search and Rescue Department was highly appreciated
After the presentations on the first day of the workshop, which was implemented with the slogan 'It's Time to Search', applied trainings were started on the second and third days. In the workshop held at Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department, Dog Search and Rescue Command, the Metropolitan Fire Department teams introduced the Canine Search and Rescue Command campus to the participants.
The participants, who stated that they liked the campus where the indoor search room, underground search area, fitness track and dog kennels are located, said that they would implement such units in their own campuses, taking Mersin as an example. After the promotional tour, the 'Underground Search Activity' carried out by Mersin, İstanbul and Ankara firefighters with search and rescue dogs was watched with interest by the participants.
On the last day of the workshop, applied information was shared in the campus of the Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department, Dogli Search and Rescue Command. The workshop, in which practical presentations were made by experts in their fields, ended with a question-answer and evaluation.
“The workshop was very productive”
Speaking about the workshop, Mersin Fire Department Disaster, Search and Rescue Branch Manager Alperen Tabak stated that the workshop was very productive and said, “This workshop is our first workshop in Turkey as Mersin Fire Department. Dogs are very important to us. We use this importance in finding people, tracking and search and rescue. We used our dogs especially in the earthquakes of Izmir, Elazig and Van, and we were very successful. We have 2 rescue dogs and 1 tracking dog,” he said.
“Dogs saving life is the happiest thing in the world”
Adana Fire Department Head Nihat Sarraf conveyed his thanks to Mersin Metropolitan Municipality for organizing such a workshop and expressed his wish to continue such studies. Zarrab said, “Unfortunately, our country is an earthquake country. Earthquakes are everywhere. We pray to God that something like this does not happen. But this is perhaps the happiest and richest event in the world, when these dogs save lives in extraordinary situations, earthquakes and similar situations.”
“I wish these studies were more”
Anıl Karagöz, who works as a Firefighter in the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department, thanked the Mersin Metropolitan Municipality for making the workshop a reality and said, “This kind of workshop is perhaps a first in Turkey. I don't think it was before. It's important to us. Different municipalities came, metropolitan municipalities came. We worked with them here. They learned a lot from us and we learned a lot from them. I wish there were more of these studies,” he said.
“No device is as successful as a search and rescue dog”
Mehmet Şimşek, who works at the Istanbul Fire Brigade K-9 Center, noted that there are state-of-the-art devices in the fire department inventories, but none of them are as successful as the search and rescue dog, and said, “The dog is something completely different. No million Euro device can match that feature of a dog's nose. Normally, we search for land in a wreck, we listen with our own ears whether there is a sound or not; but the dog finishes the search time in 5 to 10 minutes on average. It shows us the human being. I was shocked when I first started. What a beautiful thing I said. In other words, they are very valuable animals,” he said.
“Exceeded our expectation”
Sevgi Çakan, who works in Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department, stated that they set out with the slogan 'It's Time to Search' and they want to announce how important dogs are in search and rescue. Pointing out that there are dog search units in only 7 provinces in Turkey, Çakan said, “Since we are few in number, we embarked on such a task to increase and encourage people and to remind us how important our canine friends are to us. The feedback we received from the workshop is also important to us.”
“Hopefully, we will also establish a Dog Search and Rescue Unit”
Yüksel Korkmaz, who works in the Tekirdağ Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department, stated that this is the first time they have received such training. Korkmaz said, “We enjoyed the workshop very much. It was the first training we saw. We love dogs very much. We came here, we saw the dogs. Hopefully, a Dog Search and Rescue Unit will be established in our own unit and our own fire department. “This place has been an experience for us.”
“We want to move the unit in Mersin to Eskişehir”
Firefighter Cem Ercan from the Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department said that they liked the Dog Search and Rescue Chief, which they visited as part of the workshop, and that they wanted to establish such a unit in Eskişehir. Ercan said, “We will do our best to bring this one to Eskişehir. Our paw friends are our very close friends. They save lives and accompany us. They are of great value in this regard," he said.
“Do not harm animals”
Raziye Elvan, from Mersin Governorship Emergency Call Center Fire Department, underlined that such an event was organized by Mersin Fire Department, and underlined that she was very honored, and especially emphasized the value of her paw friends. Expressing her reaction against the violence against animals, Elvan said, “I am against the violence against stray dogs. In this workshop, I learned that even stray animals can be trained and saved lives. I am a really big animal friend. Please do not show violence to stray animals. They will save you one day," he said.
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