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| Front Range Rescue Dogs, Inc. Policies and Procedures September 2004
1. Administrative 1.1 Meeting Times and Places 1.2 Administrative Actions on Behalf of FRRD 1.3 Practices 1.4 Minors Policy
2. Personnel 2.1 Team Identification 2.2 Standards of Conduct and Responsibility 2.3 Membership 2.4 Disciplinary Policy 2.5 Leave of Absence 2.6 Insurance
3. EVALUATORS 3.1 FRRD Evaluators 3.2 Outside Evaluators 3.3 Assisting Other Search Dog Organizations 3.4
4. EQUIPMENT 4.1 Use of Private Vehicles 4.2 FRRD Owned Equipment
5. MISSION RESPONSE 5.1 Participation 5.2 Reporting to a Mission 5.3 Mission Debriefing 5.4 Medical Leave
6. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS 6.1 Requesting Agencies 6.2 FRRD Field Team Leader
1. ADMINISTRATIVE 1.1 Meeting Times and Places There shall be scheduled business and training meetings that are open to all FRRD members and guests. Due notice (as defined in FRRD Bylaws) shall be given prior to each business meeting. When able, notice will be given one week prior to each training meeting.
1.2 Administrative Actions on Behalf of FRRD 1.2.1 Outside Presentations The President or his/her designee shall give prior approval for any presentations or handouts concerning FRRD. Affiliate members may participate in public presentations at the discretion of the Board of Directors. [From Section 5.1.2]
1.2.2 Interviews by the Media Requests for interviews by the media or for publication must be approved by the executive board. The exception is if the manager of a search approves an interview for a specific search or if associated with a normal PSAR presentation.
1.2.3 Discounts and Donations Members are prohibited from seeking or receiving discounts or donations based on their FRRD membership without prior approval from the president.
1.2.4 Reimbursement of Expenses There will be no reimbursement of expenses, with the exception of the following after approval by the Board of Directors: · Expenses incurred by FRRD officers or those authorized by the president. · Limited scholarships for training.
1.3 Practices 1.3.1 FRRD will have regularly scheduled practices for the training of members and dogs.
1.3.2 These practices are open to all members of the corporation and to members of the public interested in joining or supporting FRRD.
1.3.3 The only people allowed to work their dogs at FRRD practices are Operational and Affiliate members in the Candidate process. At the discretion of Operational members in attendance, members of other search or working dog groups are welcome to work their dogs at FRRD practices.
1.4 Minors Policy No minor shall be used as a mock subject or in any other capacity at a FRRD sanctioned practice, SAREX, test, or any other event without the presence and explicit consent of that minor’s parent or legal guardian. Said guardian accepts all responsibility and liability for child during entirety of FRRD event and agrees to waive any rights to recourse against Front Range Rescue Dogs, Inc.
2. PERSONNEL 2.1 Team Identification 2.1.1 Identification Cards Members will be issued identification cards upon qualification as a dog/handler team or Operational Support. Identification will be reissued as needed, provided the member has maintained qualification requirements.
2.1.2 Display of Emblems Emblems are defined as the stitched patch or the same logo in an embroidered form. Only Operational members in good standing may display the FRRD emblem. An official copy of the emblem will be kept by the secretary. Printed copies of the emblem may be displayed by anyone.
2.1.3 Uniform Code When searching, members will be expected to wear the appropriate clothing for the conditions. Displaying a FRRD emblem while searching is encouraged. The preferred color of upper body clothing is red (2nd choice is blue). The Board of Directors will approve garments to be used as a uniform for public appearances. Operational members will be allowed to place the FRRD emblem on approved garments.
2.2 Standards of Conduct and Responsibility 2.2.1 Attitude Each member is equally responsible for maintaining group integrity and working in a mutually supportive and respectful manner.
2.2.2 Prohibited Conduct Behavior detrimental to the proper functioning of FRRD as a team is prohibited during FRRD activities or while displaying a FRRD emblem. This includes but is not limited to: · Drinking alcoholic beverages while displaying the FRRD emblem. · Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs at FRRD events. · Use of FRRD membership as an excuse for any misconduct or disregard of the law. · Careless and/or inappropriate use of private, public or FRRD property. · Knowingly making false verbal or written statements. · Disobedience of any reasonable order issued by a mission leader or field team leader while in the field. · Failure to report the inability of self or fellow FRRD member to perform within the normal scope of expected abilities, including loss of self control due to fear, anger or fatigue. · With the exception of members that are commissioned police or peace officers, no member of FRRD shall wear or have in possession any firearm while participating in any FRRD activity. · Failure to obey FRRD Policies, Bylaws and Standards. · In addition, undesirable behavior of dogs will not be permitted at any FRRD activity or when the dog owner is displaying a FRRD emblem. Undesirable behavior is an action in which an animal bites, claws, or attempts to bite or claw any person or animal; whether or not the attack is consummated or capable of being consummated. A minimal amount of dominance behavior will be tolerated when determining the pack order.
2.2.3 Dog Safety and Liability The ultimate responsibility for the care, behavior and safety of FRRD canines rests with the handler/owner.
2.3 Membership 2.3.1 Membership Dues FRRD will collect annual dues. Dues must be paid by January 31 of each year.
2.3.2 Membership Requirements [In part from Section 3.1.1] All Operational members and Affiliate members shall meet those requirements as set forth in the Standards. Failure to meet membership requirements is cause for removal as a member as stated in the Bylaws and will result in review of that member’s status by the Board of Directors. The final decision on removal of members shall be made as provided for in the Bylaws.
2.3.3 Membership Benefits 2.3.3.1 Once a person is elected as a member and has paid dues, he or she will have access to FRRD information and training resources. [implies notebook, email list, membership list, In part from former Section 2.3.3.4]
2.3.3.2 Affiliates in the advanced stages of the Candidate process may request Board approval for a pager and mission radio, but must have approval from the on-call member or field team leader before responding to any specific mission. [From Section 5.1.2]
2.3.3.3 Operational members will be provided operational equipment as available and are eligible for corporate discounts.
2.3.3.4 An Affiliate in the advanced stages of the Candidate process and previously Operational members will be eligible for Operational member benefits, as defined in section 2.3.3 of these policies.
2.3.4 Progression to Operational Status 2.3.4.1 The FRRD Candidate program will be run on a quarterly basis. Affiliate members will be elected to the Candidate process and Affiliates in the Candidate process will be elected to Operational status at quarterly meetings. Quarterly meetings will be the regularly scheduled monthly meetings in February, May, August and November. An individual may be voted on for Affiliate status and into the Candidate process in the same meeting.
2.3.4.2 Once an Affiliate is elected to the Candidate process, they will have one year to become Operational or their membership will be maintained as an Affiliate. An Affiliate in the Candidate process may apply for Operational status at any time during their candidate period. Affiliates in the Candidate process intending to be voted on for Operational status are to provide one month notice in writing to the Board prior to the quarterly meeting in which the vote is requested. Requests for extensions must be submitted in writing to the Board at least 30 days in advance of the quarterly meeting that ends the candidate period. If an Affiliate is terminated from the Candidate process, he or she will not be allowed to re-apply for the Candidate process until the next quarterly meeting.
2.3.4.3 Progression towards Operational status of Affiliates in the Candidate process will be reviewed at every quarterly meeting. If an Affiliate is not able to attend a meeting he or she should provide a synopsis of his or her training for the past quarter for review at the meeting. Affiliates in the Candidate process should be provided with feedback to assist their training. If an Affiliate in the Candidate process is not progressing towards Operational status, their participation in the Candidate process can be terminated at any quarterly meeting.
2.3.5 Membership Vote [Moved here from Section 3.1.2] Upon successful completion of the requirements as set forth in the Standards, the dog team's or individual's qualification will be ratified by a majority of a quorum of the voting membership. Dog teams may be elected at any monthly meeting. Individuals will only be elected at quarterly meetings.
2.3.6 Operational Voting Issues [Moved here from Section 3.5] Affiliate members will be excluded from voting on operational issues. Operational issues are defined, but not limited to, issues that deal specifically with Operational membership, changes in Bylaws that only affect Operational members or any issue dealing with any aspect of missions. If there are any questions on whether a voting issue is an operational issue, it will be decided by the Board of Directors.
2.3.7 Requalification [Moved here from Section 3.2] All Operational Support members and qualified teams must meet requalification requirements as set forth in the Standards.
2.3.8 Re-evaluation of Affiliate Members [Moved here from Section 3.3] Every year the Board of Directors should re-evaluate the roles of each of the Affiliate members. If the Board of Directors determines that the member is not fulfilling the needs set forth in the Policies and Procedures and the Standards and Evaluations they will bring the issue before the membership for discussion and possible action as set forth in the Policies and Procedures.
2.3.9 Suspension [Moved here from Section 3.4] Upon review by the Board of Directors, qualification may be suspended or allowed to lapse as provided for in the Bylaws if it is determined that the Operational or Affiliate member has not maintained the requirements for qualification.
2.4 Disciplinary Policy 2.4.1 Observation of an Infraction Any member observing an infraction has an obligation to try to correct the problem at that time. The member witnessing the infraction will then bring it to the attention of a member of the Board of Directors.
2.4.2 Disciplinary Actions The Board of Directors will consider infractions believed to have occurred and may drop the matter, inform the member of the complaint, or call for a vote on continued membership. If the president feels it is appropriate, he/she may prohibit the member from participating on any missions until such time that a vote has occurred as provided for under Article II of the Bylaws.
The usual actions will be: 1.4 1st offense - verbal explanation of the problem and future expectations. 2.4 2nd offense - written communication with a copy on file for not less than one year from date of infraction. 3.4 3rd offense - possible revocation of membership.
2.5 Leave of Absence 2.5.1 Any member may request a leave of absence for up to one year. The request must be made in writing to the Board of Directors and will be discussed at the next scheduled Board meeting. The Board will respond similarly in writing to the request for the leave of absence. A person requesting a leave of absence must have fulfilled all of the requirements set forth in the Polices and Procedures and Standards and Evaluations for their current membership requirements before a leave will be considered. A person on a leave of absence will be relieved of all duties and requirements as a member of FRRD, except for the payment of dues. A person on a leave of absence will lose their voting privileges, if applicable, and thus will not be counted for the definition of a quorum, until their reinstatement. The Board of Directors and the member requesting a leave of absence will decide on any agreed to provisions or exceptions for the leave of absence. A record of each approved leave of absence and it's provisions shall be kept by the Board of Directors to ensure consistency among agreements.
2.6 Insurance 2.6.1 General Liability 2.6.1.1 The corporation provides general liability insurance coverage for the corporation and qualifying members. Qualifying members include Operational and Affiliate members who are in good standing. Coverage is defined in the current insurance policy.
2.6.1.2 Covered Actions Covered actions are any injury or property damage incurred by someone who is not a member of the corporation that occurs during any activity sponsored by the corporation, including but not limited to weekly practice, public presentations and demonstrations, search and rescue exercises (SAREX), joint practice with other public safety groups.
2.6.1.3 Reporting Members involved in any incident (dog bite, other injury, or property damage, etc.) that could generate a liability claim should report the circumstances to any Board member as soon as possible. The Board member who was notified will notify the remaining Board.
When any claim for damage is forwarded to the corporation, a representative of the Board will notify the insurance company of said claim.
All members of the corporation are expected to fully cooperate with any inquiry or investigation undertaken on the part of our insurance carrier.
2.6.1.4 Review The Board of Directors review the circumstances of any potential claim to respond to training, operational, or oversight issues.
2.6.2 Accident Insurance 2.6.2.1 The corporation provides accident insurance coverage for the corporation and qualifying members. Qualifying members include Operational and Affiliate members who are in good standing. Coverage is defined in the current insurance policy.
2.6.2.2 Covered Activities Covered activities are any activity sponsored by the corporation including but not limited to weekly practice, public presentations and demonstrations, search and rescue exercise (SAREX), joint practice with other public safety groups, and injuries sustained during missions that are not covered elsewhere.
2.6.2.3 Reporting Members sustaining an injury should seek treatment as soon as possible.
The injured member should contact the Vice President for a copy of the reporting form, requesting coverage. It is the injured member's responsibility to file the claim form. A copy of the completed form is sent to the Vice President.
When practicable, the injured member should report the circumstances of the injury to any officer of the corporation.
2.6.2.4 Review The Board of Directors review the circumstances of any injury to respond to training, operational, or oversight issues.
3. EVALUATORS
3.1 FRRD Evaluators Members who would like to become evaluators must first meet the requirements set forth in the Standards. They must then be approved by a majority of the current FRRD evaluators. A majority of a quorum of the current evaluators can remove an evaluator's evaluator status.
3.2 Outside Evaluators Outside evaluators will be accepted providing that the provisions in the Standards are followed. The Board of Directors must approve all outside evaluators.
3.3 Assisting Other Search Dog Organizations Only FRRD evaluators will be eligible to be evaluators for other search dog organizations. FRRD will make every attempt to assist other search dog organizations with training and evaluations. FRRD will assist in developing new search dog organizations but will not evaluate individual dog teams who are not associated with an organization that has search dog standards.
4. EQUIPMENT 4.1 Use of Private Vehicles Members will use their own vehicles or make their own arrangements while on FRRD activities and will assume all responsibilities and liabilities for such use.
4.2 FRRD Owned Equipment 4.2.1 Miscellaneous Equipment Members who use FRRD owned equipment will keep it in working order. Broken or lost equipment will be reported as soon as possible to the Radio and Pager Coordinator or a member of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will assign a member to keep track of all FRRD owned equipment.
4.2.2 Communications Equipment 4.2.2.1 Radio Frequencies The frequencies covered by the Policies of this document are those frequencies whose use have been granted to FRRD by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and those frequencies whose use have been specifically authorized in writing to FRRD by a holder of an FCC radio communications license.
4.2.2.2 Restrictions In addition to any limitations outlined in other sections of this document, the use of FRRD radio communications equipment will be limited as per any FCC or third party authorization agreement.
4.2.2.3 FCC License Maintenance and Use Agreements The president shall be responsible for maintaining the requirements of any FCC license or third party communication equipment use agreements. As a part of these responsibilities he/she will maintain lists of members who are eligible to use FRRD owned or authorized radio communications equipment.
4.2.2.4 Assignment of Call Signs The president shall be responsible for assigning radio call signs that are used by FRRD members. The assignment of these call signs shall not violate any limitations or restrictions that are imposed by agencies authorizing FRRD to use radio frequencies.
4.2.2.5 Radio and Pager Coordinator The Board of Directors will appoint a member to oversee the use and maintenance of FRRD radios and pagers. This member will be responsible for coordinating the programming and repairs of all group owned radios and pagers. This member will be the liaison to the Boulder Regional Communications Center.
4.2.2.6 Radios Only FRRD members who have received written permission from the Board of Directors are authorized to operate a non-FRRD owned radios using FRRD frequencies. The number of authorized radios will be limited to the FCC FRRD licensed levels. Priority will be given to radios owned by FRRD and to radios used for SAR work that are not eligible for licensing through another agency. During practices, Operational members may supervise the use of radios by Affiliate members.
4.2.2.7 Pagers FRRD owned pagers will be assigned to Operational members by the Radio and Pager Coordinator. The use of non-FRRD owned pagers is solely governed by arrangements made with other agencies. Frequency authorization must be obtained through that agency.
5. MISSION RESPONSE 5.1 Participation 5.1.1 No member is required to participate in any given mission. For those responding, the on call member will coordinate FRRD's response and all communications will be through him/her. A mission area will be considered active until official notice is received by members that it is no longer active.
5.1.2 Approved Affiliate members (normally those in the Candidate process who are in the advanced stages of training or previously Operational members) can be requested by a field team leader to respond to missions.
5.2 Reporting to a Mission 5.2.1 On Call Member The Board of Directors will assign an on call member and a back up on call member for each month. The on call members are responsible for coordinating response to all missions. This includes promptly calling dispatch or the requesting agency for further information and providing that information to the rest of the team. These members are also responsible, along with the field team leader, for keeping track of members responding to a mission. If these members are unable to fulfill their on call duties it is up to them to find adequate backup.
5.2.2 Mission Dispatching Requests for response to missions must be paged to all Operational members. For response in or near Boulder County members are encouraged to leave a message on the FRRD voice mail notifying the on call members of their status. For response outside of Boulder County the on call member or their designee must coordinate FRRD's response so that directions, expectations and car-pooling are handled efficiently.
5.2.3 Mission Log In and Log Out FRRD members reporting for a mission must log in and out with mission management.
5.3 Mission Debriefing A debriefing shall be held after each mission for the purpose of allowing all FRRD members input into the analysis of the mission. This shall be a FRRD debriefing, not a mission search debriefing. Typically mission de-briefings will be held at the next monthly meeting.
5.4 Medical Leave 5.4.1 Members will decline call out if their dog's or their physical or emotional health will impair the team's ability to perform.
5.4.2 Each member will report any suspected illness or injury to the mission leader or field team leader.
5.4.3 FRRD members are not to exceed giving basic first aid and CPR.
Members who are currently certified at First Responder or above must follow the Boulder County EMS Protocols.
Those members, currently certified as EMT’s or above, and choose to render aid at that level, must also maintain a bonafide personal relationship with a physician advisor.
6. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS 6.1 Requesting Agencies FRRD operates under the policies of the requesting agency and under the policies and guidelines established by FRRD unless explicitly directed otherwise. Concerns with other agencies should be directed to the field team leader or the emergency liaison.
6.2 FRRD Field Team Leader An Operational member will be designated by the first arriving member or the on call member as the FRRD field team leader. The responsibilities of the field team leader include but are not limited to: · Coordinate the fielding of FRRD members for that mission. · Act as the liaison between FRRD and other agencies for that mission. · Assist in overall mission coordination.
We the undersigned hereby certify that these Policies and Procedures were proposed by the officers of the Corporation and were ratified by the Board of Directors at a meeting held in Boulder, Colorado__ on September 22, 2004 .
______________________________ ______________________________ Jim Smith, President Ryan Root, Vice-President |
