Smoke Deployment

DANGERS ON HC SMOKE AND CS GAS DEPLOYMENTS
Bob Eden of the K9 Academy for Law Enforcement

Two incidents hove occurred recently that have prompted me to write this message as a warning to all K9 officers in regard to training and deploying dogs using HC Smoke and CS Gas.

The first was during our most recent conference in Waukesha, WI. We deployed all the patrol dogs in a smoke only environment to introduce the dogs to working in a smoke environment. The deployment was done inside a building that was enclosed with limited ventilation. As a result, we deployed the HC in one room, and filtered the smoke into an adjacent room via a common door. This allowed us to trap most of the smoke where the burn took place and when we felt we needed to renew the smoke volume, we just opened the door and could allow more to filter in. As it turned out, we didn't need to renew the smoke at all. During the deployment, each dog was put through the saturated room quite rapidly, no more than about 20 seconds per dog, with the team walking in one door and out the other. Out of the 30 plus dogs that went into this environment, we had about 10 dogs that reacted subsequent to leaving the area. Indications were a mucous buildup in the throat, redness in the throat like a typical throat irritation and a few dogs vomiting after coughing up phlegm.

We had done an identical deployment the previous year with no ill effects on any of the teams, and we done close to 1000 dogs since 1991 with no previous indications of ill effects, so our first thought process was there was some problem with the smoke canister we used.

Our investigation revealed that the previous year we had used smoke canisters with a 15 - second burn time as opposed to this canister which burned between 60 and 90 seconds. The contents of the HC Smoke include such toxic chemicals as chlorine. We have deployed the dogs in many scenarios however, in looking back over our deployments, all the long burning canisters were deployed in an open, outside environment. We believe that the longer burn time indoors in this case allowed the toxicity level to rise to a point where it become toxic to the dogs. While not all of the dogs had problems with it, there were sufficient numbers that did have problems that it does raise some concerns.

As a result we will be changing our format for deployment in smoke environments to ensure that any such deployments are always done in a well-ventilated environment. Closed deployments need to be very limited and considering the situation, may not be recommended depending on how much of a screen you need to use on a live deployment. We would not recommend using canister smoke indoors, however theater smoke generators would be safe to use for framing purposes.

The second incident involves an agency in Florida that recently deployed using a dog to locate a suspect who had barricaded himself in a 2000-sq. ft. residence. The SWAT Team had been called and officers were awaiting their arrival. Prior to their arrival however, the commander on scene had 4 canisters of CS Gas deployed in the residence. The K9 Unit was then deployed into the residence to locate where the suspect was hiding. This first deployment was quite lengthy and the dog located the odor of the suspect and indicated that he was in the attic.

For those of you not aware, in most normal circumstances a dog will have no problems deploying in a CS Gas environment, however care must be taken in the deployment of the gas. While the effects on the dog may not be the same as their human counterparts, the dogs are just as susceptible to the toxic levels of the gas. In speaking with the handler, I learned that he was feeling the effects of the gas through the filters of his mask as well. This would indicate that there was far too much CS fired into the room for the square footage that was available. CS can be deployed in such amounts that it saturates a room and can be lethal. To walk a dog into a lethal level of gas is the same as it would be for any human being. If you are deploying in a gas environment, ensure that you are disbursing the appropriate amount of gas for the size of the area. Any Def -Tech trained gas man will be able to give you the formula for the amount of gas to be deployed in a certain square foot area. More is not better, and in fact if a saturated room is later found with a dead suspect due to gas deployment levels of a saturated level, we know what the outcry will be over that. This dog was deployed again about every 40 minutes, directly after a new canister was fired into the house, so that they could search the residence and ensure the suspect hadn't moved from the attic. Each time the dog indicated the proper location of the barricaded suspect until the Swat Team had arrived.

However, this dog has since been having seizures. Investigation reveals that he had fluid on the lungs for some time subsequent to the deployment. Vets feel that as a result there was a lack of oxygen to the brain of the dog and he has since been having spells where he suddenly collapses. The fluid problem has been cleared up, but there is concern that the dog may have permanent brain damage due to the initial extended deployment in a saturated environment as well as the repeated deployments into the same area with freshly deployed gas. It is very likely that the major problems occurred in the initial deployment in the over saturated environment and not in the subsequent deployments.

While there is still some study to be done, I am leaning towards recommending that OC be the chemical munition of choice for these situations where at all possible. Contamination is far easier to clean up, and using a natural substance as opposed to the chemicals that we know are toxic are likely far safer to use. Years of training and deployments have proven to me that there is little if any difference in the dogs ability from CS to OC. Considering the possible ramifications of both, I would recommend that most agencies make the switch to OC.

Having said that, the brand name on the product that was used in this deployment was CLEAROUT and the only product I have used that was CLEAROUT was an OC product. I have been told however that this was CS Gas in this deployment. If we learn that it was OC, I will let everyone know. It is quite possible that OC could cause the same buildup of fluids in the lungs, so both products could conceivably be a problem if improperly used.

Keep in mind that we have yet to experience any difficulties with any dogs deploying in CS, OC or CN environments, but the gas deployments have never been done at a toxic level. I believe that if the product is deployed properly, under normal circumstances, most dogs will not have a problem.

Bob Eden of the K9 Academy for Law Enforcement