US&R Participants
There are many participants in the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System. These participants can be grouped into three main categories.
- FEMA - establishes policy and leads the coordination of the national system
- Task Forces - there are 28 FEMA US&R Task Forces spread throughout the continental United States trained and equipped by FEMA to handle structural collapse.
- Incident Support Teams - support the US&R Task Forces in accomplishing their mission through logistical, electronic and coordination expertise.
Task Forces
For every US&R task force, there are 62 positions. But to be sure a full team can respond to an emergency, a typical task force has at the ready more than 130 highly-trained members.
These teams, comprised of firefighters, engineers, medical professionals, canine/handler teams and emergency managers with special training in urban search-and-rescue environments, serve as a national resource for disaster response. The task force is really a partnership between state fire departments, law enforcement agencies, federal and local governmental agencies and private companies.
A task force is totally self-sufficient for the first 72 hours of a deployment.
What the task force can do:
- Conduct physical search and rescue in collapsed buildings
- Emergency medical care to trapped victims
- Search-and-rescue dogs
- Assessment and control of gas, electric service and hazardous materials
- Evaluation and stabilization of damaged structures
Additional Information
??Incident Support Teams
The Incident Support Teams supports the US&R Task Forces in accomplishing their mission through logistical, electronic and coordination expertise.
- Draft Incident Support Team Operations Manual (PDF 513 KB) ?
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Adobe Acrobat (PDF)Last Modified: Wednesday, 28-Feb-2007 13:23:12 EST