Dogs on ropes tactical training improving emergency response in Essex

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) and Essex Police Firearms Support dogs joined forces last week in training aimed at elevating rope rescue skills of police dogs.

The intensive training session saw the Essex Police Firearms Support dogs, Khan, Troy, Luther, and Bella, immerse themselves in rigorous exercises designed to simulate real-life rescue scenarios.

The police dogs were introduced to a harness, and carefully lowered through a hole with their handler to imitate controlled descents through confined spaces.

In the afternoon, the canines underwent training exercises involving ascents to heights of up to 25 meters, getting them used to height and feel of the harness. Followed by training using a cableway system, set up to transport the handler and dog across an incident.

ECFRS Dog Handler, Graham Currie who ran the training day said:

“The officers and their dogs have performed really well during the training. A big thank you to the professional rope skills of Essex B Watch USAR and Technical rescue rope team for helping during the day. Sharing these skills is essential in allowing for better collaboration between us and the Police during incidents.

“By familiarising police dogs and their handlers with the intricacies of rope rescue operations, police officers can communicate what safe systems they need in place from us when we arrive at the scene. Making the overall emergency response more efficient.

“Our Fire Investigation and Search and Rescue Dogs are rope rescue trained for all scenarios so it makes sense for us to provide this training to our emergency colleagues which allows us to work in partnership and continue to develop our own skills.”

Essex Police Training Sergeant for the Dog Section, Paul Screech said: “We are grateful to our colleagues in the Fire Service who allow us to expose our dogs and handlers to different environments that ensures they are fully prepared for whatever is thrown at them during operational deployments.”

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service will continue to collaborate with partners to make Essex a safe place to live, work and travel.