SAR stands for search and rescue. MARK-9 is an all-volunteer, canine SAR team.

Search and rescue work is dog-specific, not breed-specific. Like any other emer­gency worker, a dog is judged on its ability to do the job, rather than its heritage.

When used correctly, SAR dogs can facilitate a search that will save time and manpower and enable searchers to locate the victims while they can still intervene medically. The dogs also provide a form of critical incident stress management (CISM) — just by being there for the other emergency workers to play with or pet.

Tracking or trailing dogs use a scent article to search for a known victim. These dogs need a relatively uncontaminated area and have a difficult time in areas where personnel have already been. Tracking or trailing dogs are the best choice for an Alzheimer's walkaway, for example, but they are not the best choice for situations where the victim is unknown.

An air scent dog works well when there are numerous victims, contaminated areas or collapsed buildings. Air scent dogs will find workers and emergency volunteers on the scene because they are trained to find any human in the search area. These dogs are the best choice when the victim's identity is not known, when the search area has been compromised or when there are numerous human scents in the area.

Dogs trained to do different jobs are not interchangeable. Narcotics dogs find narcotics, and SAR dogs find people.