Southern Equestrian and Canine Rescue Center of the EMERCOM of Russia

The very first equestrian units in the Emergencies Ministry were created in 2006. The Equestrian and Canine Search and Rescue Unit was created in the Southern Regional Search and Rescue Unit and as early in 2014, it was reorganized into the Southern Equestrian and Canine Search and Rescue Center. The following mounted search and rescue division were establishing within this period:

Nikolskoye Search and Rescue division of the Northwestern Regional Search and Rescue Unit;

Vytegra Arctic Rescue, Training and Research Center;

Ural Regional Search and Rescue Unit;

South-Siberian and Altai Search and Rescue Units of the Siberian Regional Search and Rescue Unit .

As of today, there are 7 mounted divisions (including the Southern Mounted and Dog Search and Rescue Center and its 3 branches) with 70 horses in total.

Equestrian units effectively perform the following tasks:

1. search operations in remote areas, rugged terrain, forests and mountains, shorelines, fields with dense vegetation and other terrains;

2. examining of large territories, fast delivery of cargo to the emergency areas (medicines, foodstuffs, etc);

3. safe evacuation of the injured that are in need of urgent medical aid from emergency scenes to areas, accessible to vehicles;

4. Hiking trail patrol duty;

5. promotion of a profession of a rescuer among children and teenagers via exhibition shows, giving tours of the divisions, horse rides, demonstration lessons in schools and other educational facilities.

In 2016, mounted units were featured in more than 30 search and rescue operations, additionally, mounted unit specialists took part in the XVIII Hipposphere International Equestrian Exhibition, shows at the Integrated Safety and Security – 2016 Exhibition, the Day of the Emergencies Ministry celebrations in the Orlyonok Children`s Center in the town of Zvenigorod.

Southern Equestrian and Canine Search and Rescue Center of the Emergencies Ministry

Reception room – 8(862) 296-51-19

Fax – 8(862) 296-50-01

E-mail: ukksc.priem@yandex.ru .

Mail address: 17A Kropotkinskaya st., the settlement of Akhshtyr, Sochi, Krasnodarsky Territory, postcode 354353, Russia

Head of the Center: Anastasia Titovets

The Equestrian and Canine Search and Rescue Center is located in the settlement of Akhstyr in Krasnodar Territory. The Center has its branches in the Ciscaucasia and Crimea.

The Center was significantly improved just before the Olympic Games, joining mounted and search dog units into one building. All the necessary equipment and structures were built: horse stable with 20 horseboxes with automated feeding and rubber floor, horse bathing stations, solarium for horses, indoor and outdoor riding-halls, exercise yards, recreational areas, shower rooms, guarded parking lot, dog kennels, and video surveillance. The center occupies about two thousand square meters of area.

Today the Center hosts sports and cultural events. It also has a horse-riding school for children and organizes horse walks across popular tourist routes.

International tourist routes, such as route from Arkhyz to Krasnaya Polyana and other spectacular horse riding routes across Krasnaya Polyana are planned to be set up.

The Center is planning to host tourist meetings, festivals and holidays, open dog and horse training lessons, as well as equine- and canine-assisted therapies for children with disabilities.

The Simferopol Branch of the Center is on duty in the Artek International Children’s Camp, while the Gelendzhik Branch protects the safety of children in the Orlyonok All-Russian Children`s Center during the summer holiday season.

The Center carries out the following activities with the children in the summer camps:

Horse riding lessons;

First aid training and basic mountaineering courses;

Basics of rescue featuring search canine units;

Escorting children tourist groups in the mountains.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service is a subordinate institution of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations.

The Search and Rescue Service of the Emergencies Ministry is comprised of 8 regional search and rescue units, 38 branches (10 for search and rescue on water bodies), the Baikal Search and Rescue Unit, the Centrospas Unit, the Vytegra Arctic Training and Rescue Center, the Southern Equestrian and Canine Search and Rescue Center (with branches in Gelendzhik, Arkhyz and Simferopol).

The Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service is comprised of managing bodies, search and rescue units and logistics divisions. The service that has a Regional Search and Rescue Unit at its disposal serves as the basic unit for this region. The Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service follows laws and legal acts of the Russian Federation, constituents of Russia, legal acts of the Emergencies Ministry, Regional Centers of the Emergencies Ministry and the Search and Rescue Service Article.

The Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service carries out its activities under direct control of the Emergencies Ministry’s Regional Centers, as well as in cooperation with executive authorities of constituent entities of Russia and local governments authorized to resolve tasks in the field of protection of the population and territories against emergencies and is included into functional subsystem of the Single State Disaster Management System (hereinafter SSDMS).

The Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service is a legal entity that has a settlement account in a bank, independent balance, a stamp with the name of the organization and can close transactions, allowed by the laws and that correspond to the activities of the Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service.

Main tasks of the Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service are the following:

Keeping managing bodies, personnel and equipment of search and rescue units in constant preparedness to resolve set tasks;

To control preparedness of protected facilities and territories for mitigation of emergencies;

Organizing and carrying out of search and rescue operations during natural disasters and man-caused emergencies.

In order to complete set tasks, the Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service are able to:

- Create necessary material and technical base;

- Draft operative documents on organizing and carrying out of search and rescue operation in accordance with the tasks;

- Organize training, retraining and vocational education for employees of the Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service;

- Organize training for rescuers and search and rescue units for certification that allows carrying out search and rescue operations;

- Be involved into rehabilitation, legal and social protection of the Emergencies Ministry’s Search and Rescue Service employees and their families;

- Share experience with other, including foreign, rescue services and units;

- Take part in development of plans on prevention and mitigation of emergencies in Russia with executive authorities;

- Take part in training of rescuers of public rescue units (public-rescuers);

- Instruct the population on how to behave in the event of emergency.

Full list of tasks and functions set to a particular Search and Rescue Unit is drafted by Regional Centers and Civil Defense and Emergency Situations Managing Bodies by agreement with the Emergencies Ministry, in accordance with the powers and stated in the Articles of a particular Unit.