Page 115 - 2023 Sustainability Report

COMMUNITY WELL-BEING

Company Partnership with Renowned K9 Search &
Rescue Training Company has Invaluable Impact

Though mining at Spring Valley-Cook Road Sand & Gravel
may currently be idle, a partnership between Martin
Marietta and the Center for Forensic Training and
Education (CFTE) has allowed the site to become one of
the most important K9 search and rescue training locations
in the world. Each year, K9 teams from across the globe
venture to the sand and gravel pit just a few miles
southeast of Dayton, Ohio, to participate in live find search
and human remains detection (HRD) training. Offering a
perfect mixture of both land and water environments, the
property allows each dog team to experience a wide
number of staged, real world scenarios designed to
strengthen its abilities to respond effectively during a true
emergency.

“The Spring Valley site is fantastic for our purposes,” says
CFTE President and CEO Deana Hudgins, who has worked
closely with Martin Marietta since 2018. “It’s secluded and
private, which allows us to train dogs without having
neighbors complain about barking, and it also prevents the
public from stumbling into the middle of training sessions
that are often sensitive in nature.”
Hudgins says the most sensitive classes focus on human
remains detection, which can involve water searches, full
or partial burial searches, searches for burned remains,
searches of crime scenes and searches of areas with
advanced distractions. “The property itself mimics many of
the areas we are called to during searches for missing people, and this is critical to prepare teams for real world
operations,” Hudgins says. “The wooded, open areas, and gravel piles allow us to change up training frequently and
present teams with a wide variety or scenarios. The lakes on the property are perfect for water recovery training. We do
many searches every year that involve water recoveries, and the lakes here are some of the best we have worked in the
state of Ohio. Their clarity, depth, and aquatic health provide us with a safe and diverse environment to train dogs to
work along the shoreline as well as from boats.”

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