K-9 S.O.S. strongly encourages continuing education for its members. Currently all active members are working
on national certification through the National Association for Search and Rescue.
The founding members of K-9 S.O.S. completed the Fundamentals of Search and Rescue Course (FUNSAR). The class was
offered through NASAR. The forty-seven hour course provided knowledge regarding responsibilities, skills, and the equipment
needed by SAR field-ready personnel assigned to operations during a search call. All members passed the written exam
to earn SARTECH III status.
A practical field exam the following week consisted of six stations where the evaluated search and rescue skills included:
Land Navigation, Tracking, 24-hour Pack, Rope Skills, Route Search, and Area Search. Heather and Lauri successfully completed
five of the six stations being evaluated. Gayle and Kathy successfully completed all six stations to achieve SARTECH II status.
