Our Mission:

• To provide (from any instructor) advanced instruction in Emergency Management and rescue to Search and Rescue Teams.
• To equip, supply and maintain a central ready cache of equipment and personnel to supplement available SAR resources for both disasters and training.
• To provide a central organization that governmental organizations can contact for assistance from diverse SAR teams.
• To equip Search and Rescue teams around the country.
• To provide or arrange transport to active missions and training where possible.
• To acknowledge those who serve humanity with "Extraordinary Service to Humanity Awards".

On September 11, 2001, Captain Scott Shields and his eleven- year-old golden retriever, Bear, traveled to Ground Zero from Connecticut to help in the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center. Bear was one of the first canines to search the rubble. He worked eighteen-hour days, and he is credited with finding the most victims, including the beloved FDNY Chief Peter Ganci and First Fire Commissioner Feehan.

Bear was injured while working the site and the periphery of his wound became cancerous. Bear¨s dad led a campaign to insure all the SAR dogs. Although Bear recovered from this illness, he died one year later (a week after the first anniversary of the World Trade Center incident) of multiple forms of cancer.

In 2004, on Sept 11th, Bear was honored for what he did on "the pile" at the FDNY/EMS Academy on the wall of honor for those who died at the WTC. He is the only one on the wall that did not die on that terrible day.

The Bear Search and Rescue Foundation was established in honor of America¨s most decorated dog, Bear, in the fall of 2002. The Foundation was created to address the needs of both canine and non-canine search and rescue (SAR) teams across the country.

The Foundation is dedicated to serve all those who rescue others and like Bear sometimes live, and die by the motto of all who serve "so that others may live".

Our Purpose:

Most of the search and rescue (SAR) teams that answer the call for help both in your community and, when needed, around the world do so out of their own pockets. Even if they are part of a local, state, or federally funded organization they often only obtain partial assistance for their expenses. While many SAR teams have local or state affiliations they still depend on donations to maintain their operations. These teams do not seek attention and public fanfare for their work, nor do they ask for monetary reimbursement. These men, women, and canines complete their missions and quietly return home to their work-a-day lives. They do this job because this is the work they love to do. While much of their time involves answering requests to help find missing children or a kidnapping victim they are always ready to respond to natural or man-made disasters—both here and abroad. They readily drop whatever work or personal obligations they have and answer the call for help. Along with municipal Fire, EMS and Police, they are often some of the very first rescuers to assist victims.

How much more could these heroes who rush in "so that others may live" accomplish if the financial burden was lifted from them? How much more could they learn if their expenses were taken care of? These teams need an advocate to assist them with financial support so that they can concentrate their energies and "minuteman spirit" on providing for the common good. It is the mission of The Bear Search and Rescue Foundation to assist these individuals and groups.

Bear's Song (wma) by Peter Davis Copywrite 2003
Used with permission

Project Lifesaver is an innovative rapid response program aiding victims and families suffering from Alzheimer's disease and related disorders such as Down Syndrome and Autism. By forming partnerships with local law enforcement and public safety organizations, Project Lifesaver deploys specially trained teams with the most reliable technology available to locate and return wandering adults and children to their families and caregivers. JCSDA is raising funds for this program. For more information on the program, visit the Project Lifesaver web site.

  

CLICK HERE to view a Slideshow of photographs. (PDF Format 8.3 M)
Note: All photos property of Captain Scott Shields and not for reproduction.

Trenton Times A witness to Katrina's tragedy Wednesday, September 21, 2005 By SHARON SCHLEGEL Staff Writer "I've been to hell before, but this was the worst," says Scott Shields, reflecting on his two long weeks of search and rescue work in the flood-ravaged streets of New Orleans. And this from a man who scoured the rubble of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 with his now-deceased rescue dog Bear and made history finding victims amid debris 30 feet high. Shields, who lives in West Windsor but travels wherever disaster work calls him, returned from the ruins of New Orleans on Monday, weary, saddened, frustrated and angry. Captain Scott shields of Princeton and members of 82nd Airborne on patrol For the past two weeks, except for a few occasional stolen hours of sleep, Shields worked day and night with marine search and rescue (SAR) teams put together with his help from members of the Army 82nd Airborne Division, steering their boats through the flooded streets of the city. The upshot of their efforts was 847 live rescues, the evacuation of 4,106 people by boat and the saving of dozens of animals that had been lost or abandoned, he reports. "The animals we rescued were sheltered on board the naval ship Tortuga, where the crew set up a shelter," Shields said. "But hundreds of people died because they loved their animals more than themselves and wouldn't leave them," he adds. On Aug. 29, the day that Hurricane Katrina came ashore, he contacted the office of Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, to offer help through that network. By the next day, he'd been authorized to head up official work requiring the Bear Search and Rescue Foundation to deploy Search & Rescue teams to Southeast Louisiana" under a formal proclamation carrying the governor's name. Capt Shields & Bear's son Theodore(able) and members of 3rd Brigade 82nd Airborne special boat units he trained. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had yet to take action, he said, faulting the need for bureaucratic "paperwork" as part of the reason for their delayed arrival. "We've become a nation run by lawyers and accountants. We've lost our heart," an angered Shields said. Shields brought along his golden retriever, Theodore, son of America's most decorated rescue dog Bear, who died as a result of World Trade Center injuries, to travel with him on the boats and "kick in doors of officials that got in the way of life safety" when needed. Despite having worked with people of "great courage" at ground zero, Shields said he was overwhelmed by the "courage and commitment" of the soldiers beside him. "I'll never go to hell again without a man in a red beret next to me," he said of the 82nd Airborne. "I never felt so safe in a bad place before. I saw the humanity deep at the heart of our military. "These soldiers stand for democracy in an urgent way that the politicians don't begin to understand. They respect the Constitution. And I saw how they respected and revered every form of life, whether human or animal. " They had orders not to shoot unless hit and they lived by those rules of engagement. America's military is better at preserving life then the agency charged with it. The aftermath of Katrina overwhelmed even Shields' expectations. While he saw looting and heard gunfire, his work was concentrated on getting people out of homes where "some hadn't had food or clean water for a week. "I saw people abandoned in the streets, homeless, standing waist-deep in toxic water," he recalls. He insists that while "the Army was ready to throw everything they have at this, FEMA was incompetent and incapable." The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had yet to take action, he said, faulting the need for bureaucratic "paperwork" as part of the reason for their delayed arrival. "We've become a nation run by lawyers and accountants. We've lost our heart," angered Shields said. Bodies in Attic, most have not been recovered. Like the World Trade Center attack, Shields said, Louisiana was a result of "lessons not learned." Shields one of the county's most decorated rescuers has been going around the country the last four years with a lecture entitled "Betrayed, Lessons Learned and not told about the World Trade Center". He also ran training in New York for 29 agencies for four days in June...the name of the training was "Responding to the Five Hundred Year Flood". "I also know for a fact that the number of dead is being under-reported, and I blame the press for allowing them to get away with that," he said. Using the national network set up through his foundation, Shields was able to alert and send 27 SAR teams they had funded or trained the last four years into the area, each rescuing an average of 200 people, he said. But because the foundation has no federal or state funding and is supported by donations, Shields said its work for Katrina victims has left it totally without funds. "We're wiped out," he said. "We use our money for grants to SAR organizations and for training all over the country. But people just don't realize that most search and rescue teams answer the call out of their own pockets. They do the job because it's the work they love. Without donations from the public, our foundation's work in helping SAR teams won't be able to go on." Shields expects to return to the Louisiana flood area after a short respite. The rescue work, he said, is far from finished. "When you get out of the city and into the outlying areas, there's nothing left. It's been completely flattened. Next to the parishes, New Orleans looks like a great place to live." If you would like to support the Bear Search & Rescue Foundation you may send support to : Bear Search and Rescue Foundation 36 Ketley Lane, Princeton N.J. 08540 or donate through Pay Pal on the Foundation website www.bearsearchandrescue.org or call Capt Shields at 732-713-6298