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|| Team Capabilities ||
Volunteers and Donors ||
Team Mission ||
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Team History | | | | |
In 1989, after several natural disasters including the Loma Prieta Earthquake in California, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recognized that local response to structural collapse was inadequate, and that there was a need for specialized teams capable of operating at the site of a major structural collapse. By 1991, 25 fire agencies became part of the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System. These federal USAR teams are comprised of specially trained rescue workers including Canine Search Specialist, Structural Engineers, Medical Specialists, Technical Information Specialists, Communication Specialists, Law Enforcement Specialists as well as support personnel. Today there are 28 Federal USAR teams that can respond to any location nationally or internationally. These teams are required to be on the move within six hours of activation.
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Federal USAR teams have proven their worth in responding to such disasters as the Murrah Federal Office Building bombing, the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the earthquake in Bam, Iran, and hurricane Katrina. However, one startling fact haunts the program: nearly all live victims of American disasters, who have been rescued, have been rescued by state or local USAR teams prior to the arrival of FEMA USAR assets. History has taught us that local responders remove the majority of victims saved from a structural collapse, within 12 to 24 hours after the collapse.
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On August 27, 2003 the Iowa Emergency Management Division held a meeting in Des Moines to gather information about the need for Urban Search and Rescue in Iowa. Representatives from fire, law enforcement, county emergency management coordinators, emergency medical services and others joined together to learn more about what was involved with improving this capability. The major recommendation from this meeting centered on the need to start building a USAR team in the state. Two major search and rescue specialty areas were identified as starting points; Structural Collapse and Confined Space. The Iowa Emergency Management Division (EMD) was able to allocate Department of Justice (DOJ) grant money for FY ’02 in the amount of $500,000 for purchase of USAR equipment. And soon a call went out for agencies to sponsor the USAR team by providing initial personnel for USAR training and logistics support.
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In 2003, the Sioux City and Cedar Rapids Fire Departments were selected to be the sponsoring agencies for Iowa’s state USAR team, with each agency soliciting volunteers from their department as well as responders from other city, state and local agencies. The team, known as Iowa Task Force-1, began to take shape in November of 2003. The team will be able to respond to statewide emergencies by the summer of 2004. | | |
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