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Members of the North Carolina Canine Emergency Response Team, Inc. enjoyed the July 4th Parade through Oakboro.

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July 13, 2009

Organization plans fundraiser at South Stanly

By Jim Lisk, Editor The Stanly News & Press Mon Jul 13, 2009, 08:21 AM EDT

Sunday, July 12, 2009 — The Stanly County’s Sheriff’s Office has a new teammate in the North Carolina Canine Emergency Response Team, Inc. (NC CERT) and its Team 3, located in Stanly County.

As a teammate of the Sheriff, NC CERT will provide trained and certified responders for Project Lifesaver International, a project that helps provide rapid response to save lives and reduce the potential for serious injury for adults and children who wander due to Alzheimer’s, Autism, Down Syndrome, dementia and other related disorders.

The statewide search organization has teams in Stanly, Wake, Johnson and Beaufort counties. NC CERT is an all-volunteer, non-profit search organization dedicated to serving local communities, North Carolina and surrounding states.

“They’re a well-trained resource that we all can use and they’ve got equipment,” said Sheriff Rick Burris.

“These folks have got to be really dedicated for they don’t get paid for all the training they go through and the work they do. I admire them greatly and give them my full support.”

Team 3 Capt. Donna Miller has an eight-member team that has undergone extensive and rigorous training on Morrow Mountain and other sites to prepare for search and rescue missions.

Those seniors who have a tendency to wander as they deal with Alzheimer’s or dementia may be fitted with electronic bracelets which emit a unique frequency to allow rescuers with receivers to track them.

When a family member or caregiver cannot find the wanderer, they call NC CERT and a search with mobile, handheld tracking receivers is begun.

“This technology dramatically reduces the number of law enforcement and civilian volunteers normally associated with a search and rescue mission,” Miller said.

“In the past, hundreds of people could be involved, consuming untold manpower hours and resources while depleting public service budgets.

“Locating and returning lost persons safely never comes with a guarantee and too often ends in tragedy. Project Lifesaver International technology reduces all these factors.”

NC CERT also uses a variety of dogs with highly specialized training to assist in the many different search and rescue needs.

Tracking or trailing dogs differentiate between individual scents and work in both rural and urban areas. Air scent dogs are most often used for missing or lost person rescue as they can detect subtle currents in the air for human scent. Cadaver dogs assist in searches of buildings, wilderness and bodies of water.

NC CERT receives no local, state or federal funding and depends totally on donations of money, time and goods to continue its mission of responding when disaster strikes.

As a fundraiser, Team 3 will host a Womanless Beauty Pageant at South Stanly High on July 18 at 3 p.m. Ticket price is a $5 tax deductible donation.

Anyone wishing to make a donation or request more information regarding NC CERT is asked to call Capt. Donna Miller at (704) 985-6110.