Most tests involve paper, a pencil and maybe a calculator, but this one will involve concrete, steel and human resolve.
On July 20, members of the Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces from Tampa Bay, Central Florida, Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Volusia County will complete intensive structural collapse training at the Florida State Fire College in Ocala. The “victims” and the scenario will be props, but the work will all be real, said Tom Gallagher, Florida’s Fire Marshal.
The two FEMA task forces in Florida responded following the terrorist attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon, and all nine provided critical assistance during the past two hurricane seasons both in Florida and Mississippi.
“Florida has one of the most well-prepared response systems in the country,” said Gallagher, who oversees the Division of State Fire Marshal which is providing the training. “We have ensured that all of our emergency responders get hands-on training so that they are as prepared as possible for any disaster here at home.”
The final exam will have students cutting through poured concrete, concrete block and steel to rescue “victims” trapped in apartments and cars in a collapsed parking garage. The test wraps up an 80-hour course that follows 264 hours of mechanical, trench, confined space and rope rescue training. Funding for the training and the facility comes from more than $32 million in U.S. homeland security funds that have been pumped into Florida and administered by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the number of US&R task forces in Florida has grown from two to nine. Those task forces are located in the Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida areas, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Central Florida (Orlando, Orange County, Seminole County) North Central Florida (Marion County, Alachua County, Gainesville, Ocala) and Volusia. Two FEMA US&R task forces are located in the Miami area, and the nine task forces comprise the Florida Urban Search and Rescue System.
More than $1 million in homeland security funds have been spent to train and equip each of seven state task forces, including providing each with a tractor-trailer response truck stocked with tools and equipment to respond to a wide range of emergencies. In addition, local governments have been supported with some of the personnel costs incurred during training.
Homeland security funds have also helped establish and equip 50 technical rescue teams and supplement the 28 existing regional hazardous materials teams, as well as provide almost 300,000 hours of training to nearly 1,700 first responders serving on these teams.
Source: Florida Department of Financial Services
Topics Florida USA Training Development
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