The Military Emergencies Unit (Unidad Militar de Emergencias, UME) is a branch of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for providing disaster relief and emergency management, following natural and man-made disasters. The unit stands ready to respond to requests for assistance from other nations, including through NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC).
The unit includes a canine team of specially trained search and rescue dogs to support in the recovery of casualties. Mufly is one of the dogs of the Unit and he specialises in avalanches, debris fields, landslides and open areas.
Mufly uses his sense of smell and can detect human scent from a very long distance. Even though nowadays there are many technological tools and a lot of workforce, Mufly is the fastest. He has a very close relationship with his handler, who considers him as his partner and a real soldier -- on four legs. They share many moments together and sometimes they have to live side by side, day and night.
Filmed at the base of BIEM V (Batallon de Intervención en Emergencias V, or Emergencies Intervention Battalion V) in northern Spain and during an avalanche search and rescue exercise, footage includes images and drone filming of the exercise, images and drone filming of an abandoned coal drying plant.
SCRIPT
--SOUNDBITE—(SPANISH) WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES PRIVATE MANUEL ÁLVAREZ OVALLE
“This is Mufly, a rescue dog for avalanches, debris fields, landslides and open areas. He's my partner and my tool, and I'm his.”
“The purpose of this training is for Mufly to be able to find people alive in different scenarios.”
“The dog is taken almost to the limit of his strength, and mine as well.”
- Canine team alerted, avalanche in Puerto de Tarna.
- Roger, mobilising now.
“Mufly uses his sense of smell. As soon as he detects the human scent, he moves towards it until he gets as close to the person as possible. He can detect it from a very long distance.”
“What does he do when he arrives? Well, he barks until I get to him. I give him his reward because he has done a good job.”
“In an avalanche search, there are lots of technological tools and a lot of personnel, but Mufly's work is very important because he’s the fastest.”
“He's my dog, he's the best. He's another soldier – on four legs.”
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