Texas Search and Rescue Announces Addition of Cen-Tex Search and Rescue Team Members and K9 Resources
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Austin, Texas – Texas Search and Rescue (TEXSAR) is pleased to announce that Cen-Tex Search and Rescue will become a part of TEXSAR effective March 01, 2014. This will expand TEXSAR’s search capabilities to include a K9 strike team specializing in trailing, area search and human remains detection (HRD).
Cen-Tex Search and Rescue; Canine and Mounted (Cent-Tex), was founded in November 2002 in the Brazos Valley. Since 2004, Cen-Tex has been called to assist in over 100 searches including 71 searches that utilized their highly trained canine assets. Cen-Tex’s canines and handlers hold numerous nationally recognized endorsements including certifications from: The National Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA); The Unites States Police Canine Association (USPCA); National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR); and North American Search Dog Network (NASDN) – Trailing.
Cen-Tex members joining TEXSAR include eight full time members who are NIMS compliant and certified as Search and Rescue Technicians level II or III and an additional six associate members. New team members also include ten nationally certified canines available for deployment in trailing, area search and human remains detection in both wilderness and urban disaster environments. Nine additional canines are currently in training. Members range in experience level from novice (less than 2 years) to experienced (12+ years in K9 SAR). Several of these members serve as trainers and evaluators for the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR), the North American Search Dog Network (NASDN-Trailing) and the International Bloodhound Training Institute (InBTI).
Greg Pyles, TEXSAR CEO states “The addition of these members and resources provides valuable tools to better serve our Texas Law Enforcement Agencies. These highly trained K9 teams and ground search members allow us to further support the TEXSAR mission ofTexans helping Texans.”
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TEXAS SEARCH AND REASCUE (TEXSAR) is an all-volunteer, first responder organization based in Austin with additional teams in North Texas and the Gulf Coast. These teams, along with many partner agencies, are able to deploy throughout the entire State to serve all Texas Public Safety Agencies. TEXSAR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides a fully capable, multidiscipline search and rescue, swift water rescue, wild land fire, and disaster response team. All TEXSAR personnel are certified according to State and Federal standards and operated under the emergency management and National Incident Management System. As a non-profit organization, there is never a charge to the requesting agency for TEXSAR’s services. For more information about TEXSAR, please visit www.texsar.org
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