HOW I BECAME INVOLVED WITH SAR
By Charlie Barnett

When I was a boy, I wanted to be a police officer.  In 1984 I went to work for an
investigation firm in Oklahoma City.  I had a K9 partner, "Shep" that I trained for the
company. That same year I was "let go" do to some new state laws.
In 1988 I went to college. I received a degree in paralegal in 1990. While I was attending
school, I met my wife, Krissie.  We were married in December 1990.  I had to give up my partner.
Shep who was donated to a Luther Sheriff's deputy.  My wife felt sad for me and bought me a
black lab, Samantha. Over the next few years we had a daughter and Krissie got her degree in
nursing.  I worked at night and was at home during the day. Sam would often go in to the baby's
room and look in the crib.  As Molly, our daughter, became older, Sam became very protective of
her and would keep her out of trouble.  Sam also was a very loving dog who liked everyone.

In 1994 Sam became epileptic.  We tried everything and spared no expense.
I had her put down.  I stayed there with her and made a promise that she would never be
forgotten.  In 1994 I joined a group, Amateur Radio Emergency Services.
On April 19, 1995, the Federal Building was blown up. Krissie and I were both called out
to the scene. I could not believe what I was seeing.  In 1998 I joined the Heartland Search and
Rescue and got a black lab puppy, Jack, donated to me by a family from Moore, Oklahoma.
Over the next year or so, I trained him.  On May 3, 1999, I was called out to help find
victims in Moore,  Oklahoma. I had Jack with me.  I don't know how many people we found.
It seemed like it was one right after the other.  Jack was inducted into the "Oklahoma
Veterinary Medical Association Pet Hall of Fame" on January 22, 2000 for his work during the
tornados.  Soon after we joined MidWest SAR.  In May, Jack helped find a drowning victim.
Molly, who is now 8 years old, helped in training Jack by hiding for me and others.
That is where we came up with the slogan support for search and rescue, "Get Lost."
 I never became a police officer, but I have one heck of a partner. His big sister, "Sam"
would be proud of him.  Well that is how I became involved with the SAR.

My parents live near us in Oklahoma City.  I never went into paralegal work, as
I still work with my hands.  I do commercial construction and maintenance for the
John A. Henry, Inc.  If I get called out for a search, they still pay me for that day.

All of my equipment is bought and paid for by me, out of my own pocket. We have a
1978 GMC Jimmy we use as a field car.  It is equipped with 5 gallons of water,dog food,
first aid kit, bed roll, tent, fire extinguisher, food, television, and all kinds of radio equipment,
pick, shovel, rope for repelling, and swift water rescue equipment. The truck is in the
process of being repaired because I was a little too close to the tornado last year.
This tonado had winds up to 318 mph, killing 40 people and leaving thousands homeless.
I have other ideas I am going to try.  I am going to start talking at a few schools and
let them know what search teams do and who they really are.  I have even put our logo
and name on the side of my truck windows. We are planing to fix the truck up for car shows
and will include a modified motor and lift kit for it, as well as, over sized tires.
We feel this will also help letting people know who we are. Our team members right now
are limited. Jeff with "Frog," (K9), Darcie with "Toad," (K9), and of course
 "Jack," (K9) and I.  Jack and Toad have already worked several rescues, and Frog is still
in training.  I forgot to mention the newest K9, "George" who is a Chow-Golden mix that
was rescued from a puppy mill by my wife

Thanks
Charles Barnett and Yukon Jack (K9)
Unit 18
MidWest Search and Rescue
Moore, Oklahoma
 Mid West K9 SAR
Support Search and Rescue.
" GET LOST ! "

 URLs of SARs
West Virginia K9 Search and Rescue
http://www.wvitcoe.wvnet.edu/~ablackwd/wvk9sar.html
Canada SAR
 http://www.tgx.com/rcmpdog/

Newlies Foundland   Wiconsin SAR
 http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/4505/

LEBA - Colorado SAR
 http://www.leba98.com/

Mid West Oklahoma SAR
 http://community-2.webtv.net/MidWestK9SAR/MidWestSearchand/

North Star SAR
 http://members.tripod.com/~jjmichaud/NSSARindex.html

Norway SAR
 http://www.norske-redningshunder.no/me1.htm

Alaska Search And Rescue Dogs, Anchorage, Alaska,
http://www.corecom.net/~asard

Black Paws Search and Rescue Association
http://mama.indstate.edu/users/blkpaws/index.html

The New Zealand Alpine Search Dogs
http://earthlight.co.nz/users/ruthara/asdogs.html

Northeast Search and Rescue K9 Service, Inc.
http://www.keyinternet.com/nesar/nesark9.htm

Rescue International's Wilderness Search Dog Training Manual
http://www.keyinternet.com/ics/manualk9.htm

Northern Alberta Wilderness Search and Rescue
http://www.tgx.com:80/NAWSAR/

North Carolina Search and Rescue Dog Association (NCSARDA)
http://www.mindspring.com/~dobesar/ncsardog.htm

Riverbend Search and Rescue Dog Association
http://www.apci.net/~dchamb/rbsrda/

Search Dogs!
http://www.drizzle.com/~danc/about.html

Search Dog Team, Hanover, Germany
http://members.aol.com/brhinfo/e_index.htm

Swiss Rescue Dog Association
http://www.ife.ee.ethz.ch/~rs/sdr/DisasterDogs.html

Virginia Search and Rescue Council
http://avery.med.virginia.edu/~rjk5a/vasarco.htm

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