为什么灾难来临时我们要求助于狗

为什么灾难来临时我们要求助于狗

When disaster strikes, man’s best friend is often there, working on the front lines and behind the scenes of rescue efforts, helping people cope with trauma and loss.

当灾难发生时，人类最好的朋友经常在那里，在第一线和救援工作的幕后，帮助人们应对创伤和损失。

Lutheran Church Charities (LCC) sent a team of dogs and handlers to Dayton, Ohio, to give support after this weekend's mass shooting where nine people died. Methodist Healthcare in San Antonio sent dogs to El Paso, Texas. They are providing support to first responders after the weekend's mass shooting where 20 people were killed and 26 more were wounded. The dogs will visit first responder stations as well as hospitals in the city, KSAT reported.

路德教会慈善机构(LCC)在本周末造成9人死亡的大规模枪击事件发生后，派遣了一队狗和训练人员前往俄亥俄州代顿市提供支持。圣安东尼奥的卫理公会医疗中心把狗送到德克萨斯州的埃尔帕索。在周末的大规模枪击事件中，20人死亡，26人受伤。据韩国卫星电视台报道，这些狗狗将前往该市的急救站和医院。

A group of comfort dogs provided comfort at various shelters and first responder camps connected to the California wildfires. (Photo: LCC K-P Comfort Dogs/Facebook)

Last fall, LCC dispatched a team of dogs and handlers to California in response to the Camp Fire, the state's deadliest wildfire. The dogs provided much needed love and comfort to thousands of evacuees at various shelters and churches. The organization said the dogs helped the residents "reduce their stress, share their worries and pray with them." The dogs also visited first responders who worked around-the-clock battling the wildfire.

去年秋天，LCC派遣了一队狗和驯养员前往加州，以应对该州最致命的野火——营火。狗狗们在各个避难所和教堂为成千上万的撤离者提供了他们急需的爱和安慰。该组织表示，这些狗帮助居民“减轻压力，分担忧虑，并与他们一起祈祷。”狗狗们还拜访了那些夜以继日与大火奋战的急救人员。

While medical professionals tend to the survivors, four-legged caretakers look after everyone else — from family members who lost loved ones to first responders and other members of a community in shock.

医疗专业人员照顾幸存者，而四条腿的看护人照顾其他人——从失去亲人的家庭成员到第一时间做出反应的人，以及社区中其他受到惊吓的成员。

A certified comfort dog, Ruthie, in Las Vegas after the deadly shooting at the Mandalay Bay hotel. (Photo: LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs/Facebook)

When disasters occur, dogs do much more than just aid search-and-rescue missions. They’re often there to provide a source of comfort for us in ways that only an animal can.

当灾难发生时，狗不仅仅是帮助搜救任务。它们经常以只有动物才能做到的方式为我们提供安慰。

Research shows that petting dogs can lower anxiety, regulate breathing and decrease blood pressure, and a Japanese study found that simply looking at a dog can increase levels of oxytocin, a chemical released by the pituitary gland that’s associated with human bonding and affection.

研究表明，爱抚狗狗可以降低焦虑，调节呼吸，降低血压。日本的一项研究发现，仅仅看着狗狗就能增加催产素的水平——垂体分泌的一种化学物质，与人际关系和情感有关。

A boy hugs one of the Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort Dogs. (Photo: LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs/Facebook)

Experts estimate that one search and rescue or SAR dog can accomplish the work of 20 to 30 human searchers. Because of these unparalleled abilities, the number of trained SAR dogs has been rising across the United States.

专家估计，一只搜救犬可以完成20到30名搜救人员的工作。由于这些无与伦比的能力，训练有素的搜救犬的数量在美国一直在上升。

Dogs make efficient searchers due to their superior vision, hearing and sense of smell. A dog’s nose is about 100 times more sensitive than a human nose, and SAR dogs are trained to locate human scents amid countless other smells. They track our scents by the 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells we drop every minute.

狗是高效的搜索者，因为它们有优越的视觉、听觉和嗅觉。狗的鼻子比人的鼻子灵敏100倍左右，搜救犬经过训练能够在无数其他气味中找到人的气味。它们通过我们每分钟掉落的3万到4万个死皮细胞来追踪我们的气味。

Riley, a search and rescue dog is transported out of the debris of the World Trade Center post 9/11. (Photo: Journalist 1st Class Preston Keres/U.S. Navy)

In addition to air-scent dogs, there are dogs taught to seek out both skin cells and the smell of human decomposition. During major disasters, such as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center, both air-scent dogs and cadaver dogs were used to search for people.

除了搜索难闻气味的狗狗，还有一些狗狗学会了寻找皮肤细胞和人类分解的气味。在重大灾难中，比如1995年的俄克拉荷马城爆炸案和2001年的世界贸易中心倒塌事件中，都使用了空气嗅探犬和尸体嗅探犬来寻找人类。