SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s National Fire Agency plans to include search and rescue dogs on rescue teams for all distress situations.
The National 119 Rescue Headquarters will be meeting with 28 search and rescue dog handlers across the country to discuss plans to deploy dogs in future missions.
Currently, search and rescue dogs are excluded from the initial team dispatched to address distress calls. Rescue dogs are sent only when there are follow-up requests from the site.
The agency expects that deploying 28 rescue dogs as part of initial response efforts will significantly increase the efficiency of search and rescue missions.
Search and rescue dogs, first introduced in 1998, have so far participated in a total of 4,920 missions, helping to save 167 lives and recover 195 bodies.
Image Credit: Yonhap / Gyeonggi Provincial Government / photonews@koreabizwire.com
