AMPWDA Certification Standards

Effective July 1, 2010

1.	Candidate must be a member in good standing.
2.	Certifications will be conducted on the Friday following all AMPWDA Seminars and / or Free Training weekends. Every AMPWDA member will receive one (1) certification attempt per calendar year with their paid membership. Each paid registration to an AMPWDA Seminar will also cover the cost of one (1) certification attempt.
3.	All other Certifications attempts will be conducted by appointment and after the Certification fee of forty dollars ($40.00) per attempt has been paid.
4.	All AMPWDA Certifications will be valid for two (2) years. The Certification is only valid so long as the member is in good standing, and the AMPWDA Code of Ethics and Bylaws are upheld.
5.	All AMPWDA Certifications are for the canine and handler that complete the test. The Certifications are not valid in any other combination of canine and handler.
6.	AMPWDA reserves the right to cancel any Certification for violation of the AMPWDA Code of Ethics and Bylaws.
7.	AMPWDA will not refund any Certification or Academy fees if the AMPWDA member is removed for violation of the AMPWDA Code of Ethics and Bylaws.
8.	An AMPWDA Master Trainer, following the team along the trail, will judge all AMPWDA Certification tests. All Certification Tests are pass or fail. The time of the test, the environment, and all aspects of the certifying process are at the discretion of the AMPWDA Master Trainer.

Level 1 AMPWDA Basic Mantrailing

The trail will be thirty (30) to forty five (45) minutes old and three quarters (.75) of a mile in distance. The trail will cover three (3) surfaces, one (1) road crossing, and have one (1) 90 degree turn. There will be no intentional cross trails. A scent article may be used. Handler, Canine and one (1) Person Backup will be permitted. The runner will be waiting at the end of the trail.

Level 2 AMPWDA Intermediate Mantrailing

The trail will be one (1) hour to two (2) hours old and one and one half (1.5) miles in distance. The trail will cover four (4) surfaces, one (1) road crossing, and have multiple turns. The trail will cross one (1) stream at least four (4) ft wide. There will be one (1) intentional cross trail. A scent article may be used. Handler, Canine and one (1) Person Backup will be permitted. The runner will be waiting at the end of the trail.

Level 3 AMPWDA Advanced Mantrailing

The trail will be four (4) to eight (8) hours old. The trail will be two (2) miles long. The trail will cover five (5) surfaces, one (1) road (hard surface) crossing, one (1) creek crossing and will have multiple turns. The trail will be laid by two (2) runners that will split off at some point for scent discrimination. There will be an intentional cross trail. There will be five (5) evidence articles left by the trail layer, to be gathered by the team. The team must bring back four (4) of the five (5) articles. A scent article will be used. Handler, Canine and one (1) Person Backup will be permitted. The runner will be waiting at the end of the trail.

Level 4 AMPWDA Master Mantrailing

The trail will be twenty-four (24) to thirty (30) hours old. The trail will be three (3) miles long. The trail will cover five (5) surfaces, one (1) road (hard surface) crossing, one (1) creek crossing and will have multiple turns. The trail will be laid by two runners that will split off at some point for scent discrimination. There will be an intentional cross trail. There will be ten (10) evidence articles left by the trail layer, to be gathered by the team. The team must bring back eight (8) of the ten (10) articles. A scent article will be used. Handler, Canine and one (1) Person Backup will be permitted. The runner will be waiting at the end of the trail with the other trail layer near by. The handler and canine must identify the runner that dropped the scent article.

AMPWDA Urban Mantrailing

The trail will be forty-five (45) minutes old. The trail will be one (1) mile to one and a quarter (1.25) miles long. There will be two (2) major road crossings. There will be an intentional cross trail. There will be four (4) ninety (90) degree turns. Trail will include seventy (70) to ninety (90) feet of hard surface. Scent article may be used. Handler, Canine and one (1) Person Backup will be permitted. The runner will be waiting at the end of the trail.

AMPWDA Human Remains Detection

Prerequisite Courses - Handler must provide copies of certificates for the following: Crime Scene Preservation Course, HAZMAT Awareness Course, Blood borne Pathogens Course, NIMS and ICS Training Courses (ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS 700 and ICS 800), and Canine must be AKC “Canine Good Citizen” or equivalent

Prerequisite Physical Condition - Handler and dog must be able to physically complete all tests. It is recommended that the dog be rated a “5”, as per the Purina Body Condition System. The Master Trainer reserves the right to stop any tests based upon the physical abilities and/or safety of the dog or handler.

Land Tests
Sources shall be at least 15 to 30 grams, and may also include larger sources to simulate realistic scenarios. No pseudo will be used. There will be a total of 8 areas. Wooded area minimum size shall be at least 50 yards with maximum size of 1 acre. Seven areas will have human remains. One area shall be a blank. The blank area shall not be the first or last search area. One of the eight areas shall contain animal remains. The team shall have a total of 2 hours to complete all tests.
-- Exposed – 5 to 7 bones exposed on top of the ground within a 30 foot radius area in a wooded environment.
-- Ground – 1 source covered with leaves, pine straw, etc. in a wooded environment
-- Buried – 1 source buried 6 to 24 inches deep in a wooded environment
-- Elevated – 1 source elevated 4 to 6 feet high in a wooded environment
-- Containers – 1 source hidden in 3 to 5 containers. Containers may be vehicles, garbage cans, coolers, boxes, etc. in an urban environment
-- Building 1 source hidden inside a building within an urban environment
-- Debris – 1 source hidden in 2 to 3 debris piles (debris piles in this manner is to simulate human remains being concealed by a suspect – not a collapsed building event. Debris may be pieces of wood, mattresses, tires, etc.). This may be in a wooded or urban environment. NOTE: This does not certify the team as a disaster recovery team. It is a separate test.
-- Blank Area – One area shall contain no human or animal remains.
-- Animal Remains – One area shall contain animal remains.

Water Tests
Sources shall be at least 15 to 30 grams, and may also include larger sources to simulate realistic scenarios. No pseudo will be used. There will be a total of 2 areas with 3 sources. The team shall have a total of 1 ½ hours to complete all tests.
-- Shoreline – 250 to 350 feet in length, at least 50 feet or larger across. Source depth between 3 to 10 feet below the surface. There shall be two sources located in this search area.
-- Open Water – 1 to 5 acres of open water. Source depth shall be between 10 to 30 feet below the surface.

AMPWDA Area Search

Prerequisite Courses - Handler must provide copies of certificates for the following: Crime Scene Preservation Course, HAZMAT Awareness Course, Blood borne Pathogens Course, NIMS and ICS Training Courses (ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS 700 and ICS 800), CPR certification, Basic First Aid course or higher medical training, At least 36 hours of Wilderness Search and Rescue Technician Training, and Canine must be AKC “Canine Good Citizen” or equivalent

Prerequisite Physical Condition - Handler and dog must be able to physically complete all tests. It is recommended that the dog be rated a “5”, as per the Purina Body Condition System. The Master Trainer reserves the right to stop any tests based upon the physical abilities and/or safety of the dog or handler.

Level 1 – Basic Area Search
Locate a single stationary subject in a pre-defined 40-60 acre area, within 1.5 hours, including breaks. A GPS may not be used.

Level 2 – Intermediate Area Search
Locate a single stationary subject in a pre-defined 60-80 acre area, within 1.5 hours, including breaks. A GPS may be used.

Level 3 – Advanced Area Search
To achieve the Level 3 certification, the team must successfully complete both a night and day search. The Master Trainer reserves the right to conduct tests on a single or multiple days. A GPS may be used for both searches.

Night Search: Locate a single stationary subject situated within an 80+/- acre area, within 2 hours, including breaks.
Day Search: Locate two moving subjects located within a 140-160 acre area, within 4 hours, including breaks.

AMPWDA Disaster Search

To ensure that AMPWDA is consistent with nationally recognized and established disaster canine certification standards, AMPWDA will utilize the same requirements as outlined in the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System, component of the Federal Response Plan, Emergency Support Function 9. Specifically, the following disaster canine programs:

Live Search: Department of Homeland Security / FEMA - Canine Search Specialist Certification Annex to the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System Operations Manual

Live Search: State Urban Search and Rescue Alliance (SUSAR) - Disaster Search Canine Readiness Evaluation Process

Recovery Search: State Urban Search and Rescue Alliance (SUSAR) – Disaster Recovery Canine Readiness Evaluation Process