Training exercise includes search, rescue dogs

DAYTON (AP) ? Roy and Ann Chase of Fort Dodge not only had a lot of people looking for them on a recent afternoon, including a couple of trained search and rescue dogs in on it too.

Being the actors who portray two Alzheimer?s victims that wandered away from Grandview Assisted Living Center might seem like an easy part to play during a Large Scale Search and Rescue Exercise, however it wasn?t. They had to wander around town a bit before settling down near the cemetery on the west edge of town ? about six blocks from ?home? ? then wait.

?We set in the sun all afternoon,? Roy Chase said.

When Dayton Police Chief Nicholas Dunbar discovered the couple, they had a couple of well-applied theatrical wounds to be taken care of and a heck of a story to tell.

?I?m looking for the pastor,? Roy Chase said. ?We want to get married.?

His wife responded by explaining that, ?A cat got my ankle.?

He in turn had an explanation for the wound on his arm.

?A giraffe got me at the zoo,? he said.

Dunbar, who is also an emergency medical technician, said that when an Alzheimer?s patient wanders, it?s often in search of something ? a home, farm, job site or even a zoo ? that?s simply not there anymore that they remember from their past.

Joe Fiebiger, an EMT with the Dayton Rescue Squad, was in charge of the day?s event. Search teams, dog teams, Civil Air Patrol teams, CERT teams and the curious kept him busy.

He said that he volunteered to gain critical experience and that training exercises with other agencies helps build rapport and camaraderie.

?You get to know your resources,? he said. ?What you can and can?t do.?

He said the biggest risks for a wandering patient is exposure.

?Time is of the essence,? he said. ?Time is critical.?

During the afternoon?s exercise, the agencies were able to take advantage of several tracking dogs.

One of those, a Dutch shepherd named Stryker and his owner/trainer Rhonda Connegys, of Des Moines. They searched several areas including the town baseball diamond.

The dogs are good. Connegys explained their abilities before the exercise began.

?They literally go not that one, not that one, not that one, ... that one ... when confronted with several tracks,? she said.

Cindi Wachholz, commander of the Fort Dodge Civil Air Patrol squadron was on hand with her team.

?We?re doing ground searches,? she said. ?We can use the skills we?ve learned.?

She also praised being able to work with so many other agencies and volunteers.

Cyndi Gentz, Grandview Health Care Center administrator, said that her she has been working alongside the various agencies to plan the exercise. As she watched them work she couldn?t help but smile.

?You have no idea how comforting that this is,? she said.