Zenith

Marcus Hanke
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Alcohol does not play a significant role, but ...

... if we take the three major scenarios in which search dogs are involved:
1) Winter: In every winter, about 3-400 people (skiers) are caught in avalanches and buried at least partially, only in Austria. In the alpine countries France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy some 100 people die in avalanches devery year. Reaching the avalanche sites as quickly as possible is crucial, since every minute under the snow reduces chances of survival. Consequently, readiness and helicopter transport are daily routine for our avalanche search dog teams.
2) Summer (remote areas): Our privince Salzburg does not have such vast forested areas as other countries do, so it is very uncommon for hikers to get lost in the woods. Mountains, however, are a different issue, and many climbers and hikers are unable to proceed after finding themselves in difficult terrain. We dedicated rescue services for mountain rescue, and sometimes also search dogs are used to scan a larger area for missing people.
3) urban areas This is my terrain as the human part of a mantrailing search team. Major issues are people suffering from dementia and despondent people. Especially the former is a routine case, since people suffering from first world's fastest spreading sickness tend to be unable to find back to their homes once they went aeay only for some hundred meters. Often they are not dressed appropiately for the weather, so quick search and rescue is important. Our dogs try to trace the scent left by the missing persons through the urban areas. Of course, helicopter transport would be very rare in this case, but we train it together with our colleagues, just for the case. Additionally, it is a good trust-building experience for dog and handler; and it makes fun.
Marcus