Kiril and Killian save lives in their spare time.

Firefighter Kiril Hristov has spent years training with his Golden Retriever Killian to become a certified search and rescue dog, and over three days in February all their hard work paid off. Together Kiril and Killian saved 18 lives from the ruins left by the devastating earthquake in Turkey. On their own initiative they collected the money needed for the trip, and together with Kirils firefighter colleague Klaes-Ola Kolberg they drove 4300 km from Sweden to Turkey to save lives as volunteers.

After returning home to Sweden, Kiril could now see that there was a need for a search and rescue organization with dogs, not just in Sweden but worldwide. Under the wings of Turkish emergency aid organization Hasene he formed Search and Rescue Dogs International. Hasene is a traditional emergency aid organization working all over the world and helping those in need.

Search and Rescue Dogs International Hasene now consists of a total of 15 people and 7 dogs; 6 firefighters, 7 dog handlers, and 2 organizers. Everyone single one of them are volunteers and are ready to drop whatever they are doing and go wherever in the world they are needed.

We are proud to have heroes like Kiril and Killian on the Suprabeam ambassador team.

INSTAGRAM

“We get on the plane, drive to the site, save lives, and go home.”

Q&A

Q:

What made you begin to train Killian as a search & rescue dog?

A:

My father worked with search & rescue dogs in the mountain rescue service in Bulgaria where I grew up, and ever since I was a child, I have dreamed of working with my own dog.

Q:

How did you come up with the idea to go to Turkey?

A:

I was working a nightshift at the fire station, and as always when I work nightshifts I come home while my wife and kids are getting ready to leave for work and school. My wife had heard about the earthquake in the morning news, and when I home she said; “aren’t you going?”.

We spend a lot of time training our dogs for rescue missions like this, and the window between they are ready, and they get too old is not that long, and Killian was ready! I am part of the National Swedish Rescue Dog Team, and I knew they would not send us to Turkey, because they only operate nationally.

So, I just knew that I had to go to Turkey so Killian and I could make a difference.

Q:

What made you start Search and Rescue Dogs International Hasene?

A:

With the climate change in mind, it is not a question about if there is going to be natural disasters, its about where and when. And when something like an earthquake hit, time is everything, the faster you get there the more lives you can save.

After the trip to Turkey, I realized that there was a need for an independent organization that could move fast when disaster struck. It takes too long time with all the bureaucracy for national organizations to get there, so we needed to be ready to move.

With Search and Rescue Dogs International under the wings of Hasene, we can move as soon as the news reach us. We get on the plane, drive to the site, save lives, and go home.

Q:

What did you learn from the trip to Turkey that you can implement in your organization?

A:

Like I said, I realized the need for an independent organization that can get to the site as fast as possible.
And we needed better light! That’s how we got in touch with Suprabeam.

Q:

How does Hasane help Search and Rescue Dogs International?

A:

Hasene reached out to me after the trip to Turkey, they were looking for projects like mine that could make a difference when natural disasters hit. Without Hasene, Search and Rescue Dogs International would not be possible. They operate in more than 100 countries, helps with all the organizing, and funds all our equipment. When we need to move out there will be a Hasene employee ready at the airport when we land, ready to take us to the disaster site.

Q:

What does it take to become a search and rescue dog?

A:

First of all, the dog has to be the right breed and have the right genes. We look at the parents to see if they have the capabilities we are looking for. But not many make the cut, out of around 100 dogs qualified on paper, maybe 3-4 will end up completing the training.

We do A LOT of environment training for the dog to get used to different situations, and it takes 2.5 years in total before the dog is ready.

Q:

What is the best part about working with your dog?

A:

The communication and bond between Killian and me. And that we save lives together, as a team.

But it can be tough; when we were in Turkey, I could see that he would get depressed when he found multiple dead people in a row. So, we would have somebody from the team hide, so Killian could find him, and we all got really happy when he did. That really helped boost his enthusiasm and he worked much harder afterwards.

Q:

What do you and Killian do for fun?

A:

When he is not working, Killian is a family dog. So we go to the forest where he loves to run around, or to the sea because he loves to swim.

Q:

How do you use lighting in your search and rescue work?

A:

As I mentioned; time is everything. When we reach the site we work day and night, as much as Killian can handle. So, we need light for all the dark hours, and we use both stationary lights and lights on our helmets.

In our work, light is a matter of life and death. That’s why that after Turkey I tested so many lights and found Suprabeam to be the absolute best.

Q:

What Suprabeam lights do you use?

A:

All the team use M6xr on their helmets, and then we use W6r as stationary lights.