In the period from April 8, 2022 to April 10, 2022, three members of DVRPS, Silvana Šneberger, Viktoria Orosz and Andrej Indihar, attended the IRO MRT FL Prepration course organized by EVRPL.

 The evaluators of the course were:

• Borut MODIC
• Mateja NOLIMAL
• Peter SCHÜLER
• Joakim TOFTBY

A total of 24 participants attended the course. We were divided into three groups.

The course was organized in Kranjska gora and the surrounding area. The course consisted of theoretical work, practical use of GPS, canine first aid, and three searches - night path search, and two searches in the sector. Due to time constraints, all searches were halved compared to the final MRT test.

The first day of the course was dedicated to theoretical work and the practical use of GPS and canine first aid. The theoretical part presented the basics of the MRT test, what is assessed, the method of assessment, frequent mistakes of guides, procedures for acquaintance with the rescue operation (briefing), search methods, procedures for finding the victim and reporting at the end of the search. The second segment was a presentation of the use of GPS, the most important functionalities, settings, coordinate records used. The last part of the theoretical part was dog first aid, led by veterinarian Eva VILITS. She presented the basic parameters of the dog (respiratory rate, pulse rate,…), pulse measurement method, mucosal color, capillary time, normal values ​​of these parameters, possible reasons for deviation from normal values ​​and the need to visit a veterinarian in case of deviations. The basic procedures of dog first aid were also presented - making a muzzle, positions for stabilizing the dog, ways of binding the wounds according to the position of the wound, ways to cool the dog in case of heat stroke.

The theoretical presentation was followed by the practical use of GPS devices and a practical test of canine first aid. In the practical use of GPS, we were given a task that included creating a point in GPS, and a practical task in the sector that was defined at this point (sector encirclement, sector investigation,…). The practical test of the dog's first aid included checking the pulse and breathing, making an improvised muzzle from a ribbon or bandage, and tying the front paw.

We already had a night path search on Friday night. The path was approx. 1.4 km and took place on fairly easy terrain (without particularly demanding ascents). The search took place in rainy weather, which posed a special challenge for my dog, followed by a suitable result.

On Saturday we started the day as figurants for the second group, in the afternoon we had another search. This time the search was in a sector that covered approximately 32,000 m2, not particularly varied terrain. As on Friday night, this time too the weather was not favorable, as it snowed with a hard wind all day, which personally caused me a problem in carrying out the chosen tactics. We ended Saturday night as figurants on a path search.

On Sunday morning we had the last search in the sector of 21000m2. Here, too, the terrain was not particularly demanding. The rain calmed down, but a moderate wind was blowing, which played a key role in choosing tactics and thus successful finds.