The visit to Turkey to perform search and rescue mission has left unforgettable memories on the VPA’s delegation of service dogs and their handlers.
According to Head of the team Major Tran Quoc Huong, after receiving direction of the higher level, the team quickly made thorough preparations to perform search and rescue mission in Turkey. They started their work right after arriving in Turkey with high determination.
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VPA’s delegation of service dogs and their handlers find bodies of two victims. |
The service dogs and their handlers were tasked with searching for victims and survivors in collapsed buildings and then informed the engineering forces to perform rescue mission. Meanwhile, the military medical team was ready to save the survivors whenever needed or take the victims out of the scene and hand over them to local authorities.
Senior Captain Nguyen Van Nghia, Deputy Head of the team held that on the first day in Turkey, on the way to the designated area by Turkish functional organ, the VPA’s team stopped by Rustem Tumer Pasa Road in Antakya city, Hatay province, Turkey as they helped the locals to search for their relatives.
Within one hour, the service dogs and their handlers quickly located bodies of two victims. The engineering team then together with the local rescue team brought the victims out of the buildings. Their relatives burst into tears and thanked the VPA’s search and rescue team.
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Service dogs and their handlers performing search and rescue mission in Turkey |
Despite of having a lot of experience in search and rescue mission in Vietnam, Major Tran Quoc Huong and his teammates were shocked by the large-scale destruction after the earthquake in Antakya in Hatay province - where the VPA’s team performed search and rescue mission. He was obsessed with the image of locals waiting at the scene to find their relatives, so that the team did the utmost to search for survivors inside collapsed buildings.
The service dogs and handlers played an important role, contributing to helping the VPA’s delegation fulfill their search and rescue task in Turkey this time. According to Major Tran Quoc Huong, the service dogs were well trained to be able to find victims at the depth of more than 10m.
A service dog named Pokka and his handler found three locations with victims on the first day in Turkey. It had participated in searching for missing victims at Rao Trang hydropower plant, landslides in Quang Tri province and Mai Chau (Hoa Binh province).
During its task performance in Turkey, Pokka’s leg was injured and he was given treatment every day. After two days, he came back to work.
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The service dog locates bodies of victims. |
On the first days, in order to save time, the delegation’s breakfast and lunch were only dry food and instant noodles. They also had to overcome harsh weather conditions. Every day, the handlers woke up early to take the service dogs out to let them gradually adapt to the cold weather in Turkey. All of the members closely worked together and excellently accomplished assigned missions with absolute safety.
During the ceremony held to honor the VPA’s search and rescue delegation in Turkey, Major Tran Quoc Huong noted that with high determination in performing the international service, from February 14 to 22, the service dogs and their handlers helped find 38 locations where victims were inside. The outcomes affirmed the capability of the service dogs and handlers in search and rescue mission overseas.
Source: Baobienphong
Translated by Minh Anh