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AT&T and National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Join Forces in Disaster Recovery Exercise

Posted on: Tuesday, 5 April 2005, 09:00 CDT

BEDMINSTER, N.J., April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T today presented a grant of $12,500 to the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (NDSDF) during AT&T's Network Disaster Recovery exercise in New Jersey. The funds are part of an overall commitment of $50,000 from AT&T in 2005, and will help support training for search and rescue dogs to recover people lost or trapped due to a disaster. This is the second year that AT&T has provided support to the NDSDF.

Chris Rooney, President, AT&T Sales, announced the grant this morning at the AT&T Networking Leaders' Forum at the Westin Governor Morris Hotel in Morristown, NJ. Ron von Allworden and his dog Jessie, and Al Duncan and his dog Higgins, accepted the grant on behalf of the NDSDF. The dogs and their handlers are demonstrating their life-saving techniques at AT&T's Network Disaster Recovery (NDR) exercise at AT&T's facilities in Bedminster, NJ. The exercise is designed to test and evaluate how well the company can respond to a disaster and restore and maintain vital communication.

"The highest priority for any community after a catastrophic event is finding and rescuing people, which is what the NDSDF does," said Rooney. "This is a complementary partnership, since AT&T focuses on restoring networking technologies that are critical to emergency communications and business continuity."

In December, NDSDF canine search teams were put on alert by federal authorities in response to the tsunami in Southeast Asia. In January, the NDSDF was deployed in southern California, where a massive train derailment in the Los Angeles area took many lives and mudslides ravaged the small coastal community of La Conchita.

"With AT&T's support, we have been able to increase the number of search dog teams serving nationwide," said Wilma Melville, founder and director of the NDSDF. "AT&T's network of trained personnel and equipment is ready at the first sign of a disaster, just like our trained dogs and teams are ready to respond immediately anywhere we are needed."

AT&T maintains the industry's only mobile, full-readiness NDR team. It consists of specially trained managers, engineers and technicians from across the United States as well as a fleet of more than 150 self-contained equipment-trailers and support vehicles that house the same equipment and components as an AT&T data-routing or voice-switching center.

More information on AT&T's NDR program is available at http://www.att.com/ndr.

About the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (NDSDF)

The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to prepare rescue dogs and partner them with firefighters to become the most highly trained canine search teams in the nation. The Foundation is responsible for training over 40 percent of all of the nation's Advanced FEMA canine search teams. Website: http://www.searchdogfoundation.org/ or call 1-888-4K9-HERO.

About AT&T

For more than 125 years, AT&T has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.

AT&T

CONTACT: Althea Yancy, +1-908-234-6705, ayancy@att.com, or EdBergstraesser, +1-845-546-8300, bergstraesser@att.com

Web site: http://www.att.com/http://www.searchdogfoundation.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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