Utah Task Force 1 (UT-TF 1)- Salt Lake Urban Search & Rescue is one of 28 federal Department of Homeland Security / Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Urban Search & Rescue Task Forces in the United States. The task force is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and is managed by the Unified Fire Authority and the Salt Lake City Fire Department. Activation of the task force is accomplished by the State of Utah, or FEMA for rapid deployment of the Task Force. The highly specialized task force is self sufficient for up to 72 hours and includes physicians, canine search dogs, heavy rescue firefighters and paramedics, and structural engineers.
UT-TF 1 was deployed to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and to the Hurricane Katrina site in 2005.
The Task Force manages 4.3 million dollars in specialized vehicles and equipment. This equipment is maintained by personnel trained by FEMA who work full-time for the Unified Fire Authority and the Salt Lake City Fire Department.
UT-TF 1, Urban Search & Rescue (US&R/USAR) was formed by the direction of FEMA over 19 years ago. All task forces are managed by full-time fire departments & firefighters who in return use this specialized training every day.
True support for this type of response was identified after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995.
Urban search and rescue (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 and mine and trench collapses.
Urban search and rescue is considered a "multi-hazard" discipline, as it may be needed for a variety of emergencies or disasters including earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, storms and tornadoes, floods, 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.
http://www.utahtaskforce1.org
http://www.utahtaskforce2.org
http://www.usarcd.org
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