Cajun Search and Rescue advances training, prestige

Cajun Search and Rescue continues to make broad strides on the state and national level.
In fact, the organization has won the confidence and support of not only state officials, but perhaps a gig on television as well.
Commander Toney Wade said CS&R has been training with the Louisiana Fire Marshal’s Office for several years. “We’re one of the only non-governmental team that’s involved with their training,” Wade said. “Their building a state asset team, and we just recently went to Camp Beauregard in Pineville and had a state asset training exercise on a mock earthquake.”
Of course the chances of an earthquake disaster in Louisiana are remote at best, but CS&R dispatches to locations beyond the state lines. “We had rubble piles and worked the dogs on them,” Wade said. “I like doing those exercises (with all task forces in the state) because it brings us together as a team in a crisis.”
Wade said fire marshal equipment is available for use in search and rescue as well, and, “If we have a situation here in St. Mary Parish, it’s another way we can help in making that phone call and getting that equipment here immediately.”
Four members have recently become technical search and rescue specialists; Wade said that allows the team to respond out of state or even out of the country. “Wherever we need to go in times of a national disaster,” he said. “We train a lot for hurricanes, water rescue. We have a ton of equipment, like a high water vehicle, which is a military vehicle that we can drive into 6-8 feet of water and pull people out. We have 23 boats, shallow water boats, to evacuate a flooded town. We’ve been through a lot of shelter operation training. We’re trying to keep it wide-open for what we need here. We get calls all the time from other states asking about our availability, and I tell them we’re available unless we’re needed at home.”
CS&R has been training with the state since 2014 and developed a close relationship. “Being involved with them, for us to use an outside agency would cost us up to $3,000 per person,” Wade said. “Being with the fire marshal’s office now it doesn’t cost us anything. We can better utilize our money for missions or equipment.”
The task force has obtained much equipment over the years, which often impresses other task forces, including a communications center.
There are 112 members across the state, and 13 members/dog teams. “Anywhere in the state, we can have a dog on the ground in an hour,” Wade said.
Some of the dogs are owned by the volunteers, but many are rescue animals.
“We pull dogs from animal shelters and we test them there,” Wade said. “If it looks like they’ll work we pull them out, and if they do make the cut then they’re part of the team…if they don’t then we find a home for them. Adopt them out. So the dogs are getting a second chance either way. With my history in animal cruelty (intervention) we figured, let’s give these dogs a chance. Let’s not throw away animals. We take a lot of pride in that.”
CS&R is working with a television network and filming operations in north Louisiana. “We set up a big training exercise, we’re looking forward to that,” Wade said. “It’s going well.”
Wade concluded, “We’re training to keep St. Mary safe.”