First Response Team of America

The First Response Team of America (referred to as FRTA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide immediate disaster relief and recovery services to communities using specialized heavy equipment and a highly trained staff of first responders.[1][2] The charity was founded by entrepreneur, humanitarian, and former millionaire; Tad Agoglia. From its inception until presently (2015), the FRTA has responded to 84 communities in the US and to Haiti for the 2010 earthquake.[2] The Team specializes in confined space search and rescue, swift water rescue, powering critical infrastructure, and quick-response debris removal.

The FRTA is featured on The Weather Channel in the monthly program sponsored by Ram Trucks, Responding by Storm[3]

The organization derived from Tad Agoglia's previous business,[4] Disaster Recovery Solutions LLC, a lucrative for-profit crane company that operated on debris removal government contracts after large-scale disasters. Contracts typically took 2–3 months to finalize for the crew to start work in ravaged communities.

The First Response Team of America's work began before it was an established non-profit organization but as Disaster Recovery Solutions, LLC. In May 2007, Disaster Recovery Solutions was working a contracting job in Missouri when an EF-5 tornado leveled the town of Greensburg, Kansas, destroying 95% of the community.[5] The town's limited resources were destroyed and/or inaccessible to its firefighters and the town was in need of specialized heavy equipment. Agoglia left the contract job in Missouri and brought machinery to clear the roads of debris and power lines, helping the firefighters access their firehouse and equipment. In the following days and weeks, home sites and crucial buildings were cleared for families and the community.[4][5]

Disaster Recovery Solutions continued to travel to disaster zones, offering assistance to communities destroyed similarly to Greensburg, for no charge. The first 2 years of the not-for-profit work operated using approximately $1 million worth of equipment from Disaster Recovery Solutions LLC and also from Agoglia's personal life's savings of approximately $1 million. Responding pro bono to 18 communities in those 2 years, Disaster Recovery Solutions took no contracts since the Greensburg, Kansas storm. The First Response Team of America became an official non-profit organization when it was approved for 501(c)(3) status in 2009.

The FRTA coordinates with The Weather Channel meteorologists Dr. Greg Forbes and Stu Ostro to advise pre-positioning for potential severe weather.[3][4] This guidance allows the Team to efficiently arrive just hours after large-scale storm strikes.[2] Agoglia continued to invest in the most critical needs for disaster stricken communities; search and rescue equipment, training with New York’s most elite search and rescue squad, generators to power hospitals and shelters, and hovercrafts to assist in life-saving water rescues.[1][4]

Presently, the organization relies on individual and private donations to continue responding to communities across the US affected by large-scale disasters.[2]

Tad Agoglia and The First Response Team of America have received recognition from MSNBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, PBS, USA Today, GQ Magazine, US News & World Report, Good Morning America, ABC News, and Men’s Health, among many others.

References

  1. 1 2 "First Response Team Of America". firstresponseteam.org. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Providing Equipment & Personnel on Day 1 of Disasters". Clinton Foundation. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  3. 1 2 ."Responding By Storm - weather.com". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Riches to Rags Story .. or Not!". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  5. 1 2 "Returning to Greensburg, KS". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2016-01-27.

External links

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