Flo is a four-year-old Border Collie in training with the Edale Mountain Rescue Team in the U.K.
She has been in training for more than 100 days to learn not only how to find those who are lost in the wilderness but also how to rescue them from hazardous situations.
One of the biggest tests she must pass is being able to located and dig out an individual who is completely buried by snowfall.
Among her recent accomplishments was successfully locating and rescuing an individual who was buried alive in snow.
What’s interesting about this particular rescue was that the buried man was filming the whole episode, showing step by step how Flo went about to reach him and help him to safety.
Unknown to Flo, this was a very important training exercise to determine what she has learned rather than a real rescue situation.
But the conditions for both man and dog were actually the same as the Rescue Team might encounter on any day of the year.
The video that the buried man shot has been uploaded online and is amazing the more than one million individuals who have already watched it.
The video shows Flo not hesitating to begin the digging work necessary to free the buried man.
Although the man who is the subject of the rescue was not in imminent danger, he actually simulated the kind of conditions that would exist should someone be completely covered by snowfall and trapped.
Flo doesn’t have any idea that she is being tested, but works eagerly and tirelessly to dig away at the snow that stands between her and the buried man.
It doesn’t take long for Flo to reach and eventu
ally free the trapped individual from his snowy prison and what might have turned out to be his icy grave.
The Edale Mountain Rescue Team uses volunteers for this exercise, which replicate the same conditions many lost climbers and hikers unfortunately find themselves in on a daily basis.
What is unique about the video is that it gives the viewer the perspective of the person who is buried alive, so they can feel same emotions as those climbers and hikers who may become trapped in the snow.
It also emphasizes the importance of organizations such as the Edale Mountain Rescue Team and their well-trained rescue dogs such as Flo.
