Sac PD's Buck recognized as Top Dog in Sacramento

2009-06-17T22:37:02Z

The following is a press release from Sergeant Norm Leong of the Sacramento Police Department.

The Sacramento Police Department was recognized as having the top police dog in the region based on an online contest. Officer Randy Van Dusen and K-9 partner Buck won the contest, beating out seven other police K-9’s in the region.

"He meets thousands of kids, and really helps kids come out of their shell when they meet the police," said Van Dusen. "Buck is strictly a patrol dog, he searches for serious bad guys. Those who are hiding and don't want to come out. He's one of the dogs that assists the SWAT team with high risk warrants."

The contest was created by Dr. Donna Schwontkowski, a retired Chiropractor, after she attended a K-9 competition and thought the community should be more aware of the talented dogs that are a part of law enforcement’s K-9 units. Schwontkowski put together a web site and received sponsorships to support the contest. Schwontkowski received over 3000 voters who watched individual videos on each K-9 at www.SacTopDogContest.com. The results of that contest placed K-9 Buck as the top dog.

"He's a really good all-around protector," Van Dusen added.

The Sacramento Police Department would like to thank Dr. Donna Schwontkowski for her efforts in recognizing the fine work that K-9’s do for Law Enforcement and the community.

Firefighters use cranes to rescue victims

2009-06-19T04:52:53Z

The Rancho Murieta training facility was a disaster scene this past week. Firefighters collaborated on an Urban Search and Rescue mission to carefully extract victims stranded in cars crushed under debris.

The victims in this case, mannequins, were successfully removed from the wreckage. Firefighters treat this simulation as an actual disaster so they will be prepared when they get the call.

For the past four years, firefighters from all over California have been gathering in the Sacramento area for a heavy equipment and rigging training course that culminated this past Wednesday.

L.A. City, L.A. County, Oakland, Elk Grove, Roseville, Sacramento City and the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District all participated in a three-day training session focused on the setup of cranes and their operation in Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) situations.

Capt. Jay Coon is a 23-year veteran of the fire service currently working for the Sacramento Fire Department. He said the training was initially a preparation for natural disasters, such as earthquakes.

"We didn't know about terrorism when we first started this training," Coon said.

The program extends training to cover incidents such as September 11 in New York and the Oklahoma City bombing.

"We prepare people for the worst of the worst of a natural or man made disaster," said Coon, who participated in both events as a heavy rigger.

The scene of the training site is a barren facility with a collapsed building and a heap of steel beams and concrete slabs resting on top of cars.

"We basically build an artificial disaster," Coon said.

According to Dave DeWilde, the director of training at the Rancho Murieta training facility, firefighters engage in this simulated disaster with an end goal of removing mannequins from cars buried within the devastated area "without causing more damage or hurting yourself."

Coon said the first seventy-two hours rescuers are on the scene are critical, as most victims who will be rescued are saved in that timeframe. After that, it becomes a recovery mission.

"This is a good estimation," he said, adding that people can die within hours thus making the rescue futile. That is why DeWilde emphasized the importance of this specific training, saying it "teaches the firefighters to be able to communicate better and faster, so they can rescue people as fast as they can."

According to Coon, within the first few hours firefighters are on a scene, cranes can be set up "immediately if they are hydraulic cranes, or within hours for the bigger ones." He described the positives of using a crane as its ability to pick up a tremendous amount of weight. That's an asset," Coon said. Despite that, he added, "The bigger they are, the longer it takes to put them in service. You can spend as much as two days putting them together."

"This kind of training is vital, and it's sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Office of Emergency Services," Coon said. However, he maintained that, "We couldn't put this thing on if it wasn't for the community," describing the various companies that gave the trainers access to steel, cars and equipment.

"If they didn't support us,” Coon said, “it would be too costly to put this training on."

People in Uniform

Sac PD's Buck recognized as Top Dog in Sacramento

Firefighters use cranes to rescue victims