OSRT Search and Rescue Team K-9s Invade Carter Lumber in Mogadore, Ohio

May, 2022 - Mansfield, Ohio – Seven search and rescue K-9s descended on Carter Lumber in Mogadore, Ohio to conduct an urban search exercise throughout the facility’s eight structures. Ohio Special Response Search and Rescue Team members, along with Carter hosts Allen Price and Derik Francis, conducted a series of searches of the facilities, including an evidence preservation search locating eight hidden devices, followed by K-9 searches for multiple scenarios. The highlight of the series occurred when each K-9 was sent, individually, into the facility to locate a single drop of dry human blood. All seven K-9s located the drop, hidden on the running light of a vehicle parked inside one of the buildings. The final event of the day included each K-9 searching for and locating individuals who had hidden themselves around the site.

The Ohio Special Response Search and Rescue Team (OSRT), a 501(c)3 headquartered in Mansfield, Ohio with 7 units around the state, is the single non-profit volunteer Ohio SAR team credentialed in the Federal Emergency Management Administration's (FEMA) Emergency Support Function 9, Job Type 35, Wilderness Search and Rescue. OSRT is also recognized for state-wide search operations by the Ohio Emergency Management Agency.

Contributions to help support OSRT can be made at: https://tinyurl.com/yc894ysf

Alan Plastow, Captain of the OSRT Northeast Ohio Units, is a faculty member teaching the Certificate in Applied Project Management at The University of Akron. He's also a member of the Medina County Child Abduction Response Team, and the American Red Cross and Team Rubicon disaster response teams.