2025 Central Lakes Search and Rescue HRD Workshop

October 5th – 9th, 2025

Each year, CLSAR hosts the MN NAPWDA Search and Rescue Certification Workshop.  This 4 day event is held at Camp Ripley, a 55,000 acre Military Reservation which allows multiple training venues, and free lodging.  The only workshop of its kind in Minnesota, we have K-9 handlers from across the Upper Midwest (and beyond!) attending each year.

This year, we are putting on an HRD education workshop alongside our NAPWDA Workshop. This is not a certification course and will focus on …

Class sizes are limited & will be filled as registration and payment is received.

Schedule

  • Monday 0800: Safety Briefing
  • Monday 0830: Instructor Introductions
  • Monday 0900: Field Work
  • Tuesday 0800: Field Work
  • Wednesday 0800: Field Work
  • Thursday 1000: Checkout

Human Remains Detection

The K9 Human Remains Detection (HRD) class is designed for law enforcement, first responders, and search and rescue teams seeking specialized training in utilizing K9 teams to locate human remains. This comprehensive course provides handlers with the skills, knowledge, and practical experience to effectively work with their K9s in scenarios involving the detection of human remains, whether in urban environments, wilderness areas, or disaster sites.

Throughout the course, handlers will learn to understand the intricacies of human remains detection, including how human decomposition odors are dispersed and how to train dogs to differentiate these scents from other environmental odors. The class covers essential topics such as scent theory, odor recognition, and search techniques tailored to human remains, and includes both classroom instruction and hands-on field exercises.

Register for Waitlist

HRD Instructor

Lisa Higgins

Lisa Higgins is a certified NASAR SARTECH II and Canine SAR Tech III with over 40 years of law enforcement experience. She began her career in 1978 with the Pearl River Police Department as a mounted officer and completed a 30-year tenure with the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office in both mounted patrol and SAR canine units, including service in the Special Operations Division. A co-founder of LaSAR, Higgins is a member of NSDA, NNCDS, and serves on the advisory board. She is recognized as a “Subject Matter Expert” in canine body recovery in New Orleans Criminal Courts and is a member of the Federal DMORT Region VI Team and the Louisiana and Texas State Mass Fatalities Taskforce. Additionally, Lisa works as a civilian contractor with the FBI on the Victim Recovery Team and has co-authored articles and a book chapter on water search and recovery.