California Task Force 3 (CA-TF3)
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The FEMA National Urban Search and Rescue Response System (System) was established in 1989 and has evolved into a robust national disaster response program with twenty-eight (28) task forces participating from nineteen (19) states. The System’s 28 US&R task forces can be deployed by FEMA to a disaster area to provide assistance in structural collapse rescue, or they may be pre-positioned when a major disaster threatens a community.
The task forces are equipped and ready to deploy within six hours in various response models. When federal support is anticipated prior to an event such as a hurricane, System resources are often pre-positioned along with other federal responders to expedite support following the disaster.
Each NIMS Type I US&R task force is composed of 70 members specializing in search, rescue, medicine, hazardous materials, logistics and planning, including technical specialists such as physicians, structural engineers and canine search teams. The task forces can also be configured as a Type III US&R task force for searching lighter construction usually encountered in weather related events such as hurricanes and tornados. Self-sufficient for the initial 72 hours, the task forces are equipped with convoy vehicles to support over-the-road deployments.
What the Task Force can do:
Self-sufficient for the initial 72 hours, the task forces are equipped with convoy vehicles to support over-the-road deployments. Typically task forces:
Conduct physical search and rescue operations in damaged/collapsed structures.
Emergency medical care for entrapped survivors, task force personnel and search canines.
Reconnaissance to assess damage and needs and provide feedback to local, state and federal officials.
Assessment/shut off of utilities to houses and other buildings.
Survey and evaluate hazardous material threats.Provide structural and hazard evaluations of buildings needed for immediate occupancy to support disaster relief operations.
Stabilizing damaged structures, including shoring and cribbing.
Hazardous Materials Equipment Push Packages (HEPP) for operations in a contaminated environment.
US&R operations in a water environment.
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