Urban Search and Rescue Missouri Task Force 1
Encyclopedia
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
(FEMA) Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task Force based in Boone County, Missouri
Boone County, Missouri
Boone County is a county centrally located in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the eighth most populous county in Missouri. In 2010, the population was 162,642. Its county seat, Columbia, is the fifth largest city in Missouri and the anchor city of the Columbia Metropolitan Area.-History:Boone...
. MO-TF1 is sponsored by the Boone County Fire Protection District
Boone County Fire Protection District
The Boone County Fire Protection District provides fire protection and emergency medical services for a large portion of Boone County, Missouri...
and is designated as the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Response Team for the state of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
Overview
MO-TF1 is capable of performing the following operations:- Conduct physical search and rescueSearch and rescueSearch and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
operations in damaged/collapsed structures, flooded areas and transportation accident scenes - Provide emergency medical care at disasterDisasterA disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
sites for trapped victims and task force members - Carry out reconnaissanceReconnaissanceReconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
duties to assess damage and determine needs, then use that information to provide feedback to all agencies involved - Provide disaster communications support using state-of-the-art satelliteSatelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
systems - Conduct hazardous materials surveys/evaluations of affected areas
- Assist in stabilizing damaged structures, including shoring and cribbing operations
Urban search and rescue
Urban search and rescue
Urban search and rescue involves the location, extrication, and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in confined spaces due to natural disasters, structural collapse, transportation accidents, mines and collapsed trenches.USAR teams in different countries may be organised in a...
(US&R) involves the location, rescue (extrication) and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in confined spaces. Structural collapse is most often the cause of victims being trapped, but victims may also be trapped in transportation accidents, mines
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and collapsed trench
Trench
A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground. Trenches are generally defined by being deeper than they are wide , and by being narrow compared to their length ....
es.
Urban search and rescue (US&R) is considered a "multi-hazard" discipline, as it may be needed for a variety of emergencies or disasters, including earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s, hurricanes, typhoons, storm
Storm
A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...
s and tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es, flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s, dam failures, technological accidents, terrorist activities, and hazardous materials releases. The events may be slow in developing, as in the case of hurricanes, or sudden, as in the case of earthquakes.
If a disaster event warrants national US&R support, FEMA will deploy the three closest task forces within six hours of notification, and additional teams as necessary. The role of these task forces is to support state and local emergency responders' efforts to locate victims and manage recovery operations.
Each task force consists of 70 specially trained personnel (two 35-person teams), four canines and a comprehensive equipment cache. US&R task force members work in four areas of specialization: search, to find victims trapped after a disaster; rescue, which includes safely digging victims out of tons of collapsed concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
; technical, made up of structural specialists who make rescues safe for the rescuers; and medical, which cares for the victims before and after a rescue.
US&R History
In the early 1980s, the Fairfax County Fire & RescueFairfax County Fire and Rescue Department
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is a combination career and volunteer organization that provides fire suppression, emergency medical, technical rescue, hazardous materials, water rescue, life safety education, fire prevention and arson investigation services to Fairfax County, Virginia...
and Metro-Dade County Fire Department created elite search-and-rescue (US&R) teams trained for rescue operations in collapsed buildings. Working with the United States State Department and Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance is an organizational unit within the U.S. Agency for International Development that has delegated responsible for directing and coordinating U.S. Government relief assistance overseas. Within USAID, OFDA resides within Bureau of Democracy, Conflict,...
, these teams provided vital search-and-rescue support for catastrophic earthquakes in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established the National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response System in 1989 as a framework for structuring local emergency services personnel into integrated disaster response
Disaster response
Disaster response is a phase of the disaster management cycle. Its preceding cycles aim to reduce the need for a disaster response, or to avoid it altogether.The level of disaster response depends on a number of factors and particular situation awareness...
task forces.
In 1991, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) incorporated this concept into the Federal Response Plan (now the National Response Plan
National Response Plan
The National Response Plan was a United States national plan to respond to emergencies such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks. It came into effect in December 2004 , and was superseded by the National Response Framework on March 22, 2008....
), sponsoring 25 national urban search-and-rescue task forces.
Events such as the 1995 bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a United States Federal Government complex located at 200 N.W. 5th Street in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. The building was the target of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people, including 19 children...
in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, the Northridge earthquake
Northridge earthquake
The Northridge earthquake was a massive earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 04:31 Pacific Standard Time in Reseda, a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, lasting for about 10–20 seconds...
, the Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
grain elevator
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
in 1998 and earthquakes in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 1999 underscore the need for highly skilled teams to rescue trapped victims.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
and the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
on September 11, 2001 thrust FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams into the spotlight. Their important work transfixed a world and brought a surge of gratitude and support.
Today there are 28 national task force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
s staffed and equipped to conduct round-the-clock search-and-rescue operations following earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, aircraft accidents, hazardous materials spills and catastrophic structure collapses. These task forces, complete with necessary tools and equipment, and required skills and techniques, can be deployed by FEMA for the rescue of victims of structural collapse.
Organization
Several distinct and specific teams make up the US&R Task Force: Search Team, Rescue Team, Medical Team, Hazardous Materials Team, Logistics Team and Planning Team.Task Force Leaders/Safety Officers
The Task Force is managed by two (2) Task Force Leaders. Two (2) Safety Officers serve the Task Force evaluating conditions and mitigating safety hazards.Search Team
The Search Team is composed of two (2) Search Team Managers, two (2) Technical Search Specialists and four (4) Canine Search Specialists and their dogsSearch and rescue dog
The use of dogs in search and rescue is a valuable component in wilderness tracking, natural disasters, mass casualty events, and in locating missing people. Dedicated handlers and well-trained dogs are required for the use of dogs to be effective in search efforts...
. After a site is declared safe to work in by the structural and hazardous materials specialists, the Search Team ventures around and into the collapsed structure attempting to locate trapped victims and identify dangerous areas. The team uses electronic listening devices, extremely small fiber-optic search cameras and specially trained search dogs to locate victims.
Rescue Team
The Rescue Team is composed of two (2) Rescue Team Managers, two (2) Heavy Equipment and Rigging Specialists and four (4) Rescue Squads. Each Rescue Squad is composed of one (1) Rescue Squad Officer and five (5) Rescue Specialists. Once victims are located, the Rescue Team goes about the daunting task of breaking and cutting through literally thousands of pounds of concrete, metal and wood to reach entrapped victims. The entry points to work areas in and around the building must be supported with wood shoring to prevent further collapse. Equipment used includes pneumatic, hydraulic and hand-powered cutting, breaching/breaking and burning tools. Heavy Equipment and Rigging Specialists can interface with local crane and heavy equipment operatorHeavy equipment operator
A heavy equipment operator drives and operates heavy equipment used in engineering and construction projects.-Operator training:*The International Union of Operating Engineers has equipment schools where apprentice operators are trained....
s to remove any rubble
Rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...
or debris
Debris
Debris is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc. The singular form of debris is debris...
that continue to impede access. Once entrapped victims are reached, they must be freed by backing them out through the hole the rescue group made to reach them.
Medical Team
The Medical Team is composed of two (2) Medical Team Managers and four (4) Medical Specialists. Each Medical Team Manager is a physicianPhysician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
specializing in emergency medicine
Emergency medicine
Emergency medicine is a medical specialty in which physicians care for patients with acute illnesses or injuries which require immediate medical attention. While not usually providing long-term or continuing care, emergency medicine physicians diagnose a variety of illnesses and undertake acute...
], critical care medicine
Critical Care Medicine
Critical Care Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal in the field of intensive care medicine. It is the official publication of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. The editor-in-chief is Joseph E. Parrillo....
or trauma surgery
Trauma surgery
Trauma surgery is a surgical specialty involved in the invasive treatment of physical injuries, typically in an emergency setting. Trauma surgeons generally complete residency training in general surgery and often fellowship training in trauma or surgical critical care...
. Medical Specialists are EMT-Paramedics specially trained in confined space medicine
Confined space rescue
Confined space rescue is a subset of technical rescue operations that involves the rescue and recovery of victims trapped in a confined space or in a place only accessible through confined spaces, such as underground vaults, storage silos, storage tanks, or sewers.Confined space rescues can be...
. The Medical Team provides medical care for rescued victims and Task Force members. They enter the dangerous interior of the collapsed structure to render aid to trapped victims. A completely stocked mobile emergency room is part of the Task Force equipment cache.
Hazardous Materials Team
The Hazardous Materials Team is composed of two (2) Hazardous Materials Team Managers and eight (8) Hazardous Materials Specialists. The Hazardous Materials Team is responsible for hazardous materials monitoring and detection and providing decontaminationDecontamination
Decontamination is the process of cleansing the human body to remove contamination by hazardous materials including chemicals, radioactive substances, and infectious material...
services for the Task Force.
Logistics Team
The Logistics Team is composed of two (2) Logistics Team Managers, two (2) Logistics Specialist and two (2) Communications Specialists. The Logistics Team provides support functions for the other teams. LogisticsLogistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
specialists track and maintain the over 16,000 individual pieces of equipment and supplies in the task force's equipment cache. Communications specialists operate and maintain communications equipment used by task force personnel.
Planning Team
The Planning Team is composed of two (2) Planning Team Managers, two (2) Technical Information Specialists and two (2) Structures Specialists (Professional Engineers). The Structures Specialist assesses the potential for additional collapse, planning team managers and technical information specialists collect and analyze data and incident information so as to anticipate future work plans and task force needs. This group also assists the task force leaders with the development of a Task Force Action Plan (TAP) for each operational period.Training
Minimum requirements to be a member of MO-TF1 include: CPR certification, Emergency Medical TechnicianEmergency medical technician
Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
certification, and completion of a FEMA Structural Collapse Technician (SCT) course. Once these classes are completed, additional specialized training and continuing education must be completed to qualify for each individual discipline.
Member Departments
- Boone County Fire Protection District (Sponsoring Agency)
- Black Jack Fire District
- Columbia Fire DepartmentColumbia Fire DepartmentThe Columbia Fire Department is the agency that provides fire suppression, emergency medical care, hazardous material and other catastrophic occurrence mitigation, fire investigation, and fire inspection and code enforcement to Columbia, Missouri...
- Cooper County Fire District
- Eureka Fire Protection District
- Jefferson City Fire Department
- Kansas City Fire DepartmentKansas City Fire DepartmentThe Kansas City Fire Department provides fire protection, emergency medical service, emergency rescue and hazardous materials response for residents of Kansas City, Missouri.It operates 34 fire stations that are organized into seven battalions and cover ....
- Mehlville Fire Department
- Metro West Fire Protection District
- O'Fallon Fire Department
- St. Charles Fire Department
- Union Fire Protection District
- Wentzville Fire Protection District
Federal Deployments
- September 2001 New York City, NY – World Trade Center
- February 2003 Texas – Space Shuttle ColumbiaSpace Shuttle ColumbiaSpace Shuttle Columbia was the first spaceworthy Space Shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. First launched on the STS-1 mission, the first of the Space Shuttle program, it completed 27 missions before being destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 near the end of its 28th, STS-107. All seven crew...
Recovery - August 2003 Virginia - Hurricane IsabelHurricane IsabelHurricane Isabel was the costliest and deadliest hurricane in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Isabel formed near the Cape Verde Islands from a tropical wave on September 6 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean...
- July 2005 Mississippi - Hurricane DennisHurricane DennisHurricane Dennis was an early-forming major hurricane in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico during the very active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Dennis was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the season...
- August 2005 New Orleans, LA – Hurricane KatrinaHurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
- September 2005 New Orleans, LA – Hurricane Katrina
- August 2006 Atlanta, GA - Hurricane ErnestoHurricane ErnestoThe name Ernesto has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean.* 1982's Tropical Storm Ernesto - formed from a tropical depression southwest of Bermuda, tracked northeast for two days before dissipating without threatening land....
- August 2007 Texas – Hurricane DeanHurricane DeanThe name Dean was used for five tropical cyclones in the Northern Atlantic Ocean:*1983's Tropical Storm Dean, which struck the coast of Virginia, causing minor erosion and flooding...
- July 2008 Texas - Hurricane Dolly
- August 2008 Minneapolis, MN – NSSE Republican National ConventionRepublican National ConventionThe Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
- September 2008 Lafayette, LA – Hurricane IkeHurricane IkeHurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States, the costliest hurricane ever to impact Cuba and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland in the Great Lakes Region after Hurricane Hazel in 1954...
- May 2011 Joplin, MO - EF 5 Tornado2011 Joplin tornadoThe 2011 Joplin tornado was a devastating EF5 multiple-vortex tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, USA late in the afternoon of Sunday, May 22, 2011. It was part of a larger late-May tornado outbreak sequence and reached a maximum width of in excess of during its path through the southern part of...
State Deployments
- June 2006 – Clinton, MO - Building Collapse
- March 2008 Piedmont, MO Floods (Swiftwater Assets)
- May 2008 – Newton County, MO - Tornado
- December 2010 - Fort Leonard Wood, MO - Tornado
- May 2011 - Joplin, MO - Tornado2011 Joplin tornadoThe 2011 Joplin tornado was a devastating EF5 multiple-vortex tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, USA late in the afternoon of Sunday, May 22, 2011. It was part of a larger late-May tornado outbreak sequence and reached a maximum width of in excess of during its path through the southern part of...