Synopsis

Dogs and drones work side by side during disaster relief operations and exercises. During an emergency response exercise jointly organised by NATO and Serbia, a search and rescue dog from the Greek military worked alongside a Spanish military drone team to locate survivors in an abandoned factory. NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) conducts annual large-scale field exercises with realistic scenarios to improve interaction between NATO and partner countries. Exercise Srbija 2018 was jointly organised by the EADRCC and the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia and it involved 2,000 personnel from almost 40 NATO Allies and partner countries and several international organisations such as the European Union and the Red Cross. Footage includes drone shots of the urban search and rescue location and footage of various rescue dogs at work.

Teaser

Dogs walk, drones fly, together they make an excellent team, helping in disaster relief operations.

Transcript

--SOUNDBITE (GREEK W/ ENG SUBS)-- Sgt Evangelis Papachristos, Hellenic Army “I think dogs are more essential than man or machines because of their unique sense of smell.” --SOUNDBITE (SPANISH W/ ENG SUBS)-- Maj Luis Antonio Rodriguez Álvarez de Lara, Spanish Military Emergencies Unit “The drone gives us a general view of the scene, of the entire damaged zone.” “Once it is located, the search dogs can then go to that specific area so we can focus on starting the search.” --SOUNDBITE (SPANISH W/ ENG SUBS)-- Maj Luis Antonio Rodriguez Álvarez de Lara , Spanish Military Emergencies Unit “Drone capabilities continue improving almost every day. Nowadays we can count on drones with special detection capabilities that can provide temperature measurements or measurements of contamination levels.” “I believe that the success of a rescue operation lies in knowing how to properly combine the abilities of people, animals and various types of machines and vehicles.”