The first thing that agents will use are specially trained dogs. These dogs are extremely sensitive tot scents and the can be incredibly effective. However the dog needs to be motivated to search and they can become less effective if the animal becomes disinterested in the work. Usually the dogs are very good at identifying the scents of several common explosive materials and will notify the handler when they detect these smells. When the dog does detect a smell it will indicate a “hit” with a passive response.
One of the newer and more revolutionary detection methods involving animals is the honey bee method. This method uses bees with advanced computer software to monitor the bees for a reaction. These bees can work for 2 days, after which they need to be returned to their hive. This method is not completely proven to be effective as of yet, but does show incredible promise.
The most common method of explosion detection outside of animals is mechanical scent detection. This method uses machines to detect trace signatures of different explosive materials. This is most commonly seen in US airports using Ion Mobility Spectrometry or IMS.
Using a scanner in this way as a method of detection works very well, but can be very costly. In addition the scanners are not really mobile so they can not be used to say search a school for a bomb if a threat is called in. Because of this animals will always play a key role in bomb detection. They are inexpensive to maintain and highly effective at what they do. They can get into areas that people can not reach and can search a wide area quickly.
The key with the animals is that they are focused and stay on task. This is the direct job of the handler and they need to maintain the animals focus on the job at hand. A good handler can keep a dog on seen and working hard for many hours. In addition you can use multiple dogs together and they will work with each other to search out an area. Sometimes however the animals can lose focus in groups like this but again if the handler is good at what they do they can keep the animals on task and find the bomb.
As you can see there are different ways to detect an explosive, but by far the most cost effective and prevalent way to do so is through the use of dogs. While bees are nice to have as an option, they are still not field proven and until then dogs will be the animal of choice. In addition to the dog the people working with them need to be highly trained as well. A good handler will make all the difference in the world.
