Fire Service Special Forces Test Their Life-Saving Skills
Today, four of California's eight Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces responded to a simulated earthquake, plane crash and widespread flooding in multiple locations throughout Los Angeles County. This was the scene in day one of the MOBEX exercise today, which will continue until tomorrow.
The Mobilization Exercise (MOBEX) is a Federal, State and local real time deployment exercise designed to test the readiness and effectiveness of Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams within the State of California that take place every year in different parts of the state.
Some of the operations the US&R teams had to perform during the exercises were confined spaces and debris piles often caused by earthquakes or terrorist bombing. At Lake Castaic, water rescue operations were underway to simulate efforts that were made during hurricane Katrina and Rita. The exercise was also a partnership between professional and volunteer emergency responders to manage search and rescue operations in a disaster that affected an entire neighborhood.
"This exercise is one of the largest-scale examples of functional, hands-on training experienced by our first responders," said Cal OES Director Mark Ghilarducci. "The training that these professionals go through is intense and requires a wide array of disciplines to be in play at any moment during their missions."
The teams that participated in today's exercise include: CA-TF 1 – Los Angeles City Fire Department, CA-TF 2 Los Angeles County Fire Department, CA-TF 5 – Orange County Fire Authority and CA-TF – 7 Sacramento Fire Department.
If a disaster warrants national US&R support, FEMA will deploy the three closest task forces within six hours of notification and additional teams as necessary. The role of these task forces is to support state and local emergency responders' efforts to locate victims and manage recovery operations. In order to make these teams more effective doctors, paramedics, canine search teams, structural specialists and hazardous materials specialists have been included to the rescue operations.
"Benjamin Franklin said, 'By failing to prepare, you are prepared to fail.' Each year we look at the education and ongoing drilling that our firefighters and first responders do as part of that preparedness," said
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. "They know that whether it's an earthquake or fire, terrorist incident or weather event, they need to be ready for that moment that our people are going to depend on us"
California has a very robust US&R crew, which has been deployed many times for state, national and even worldwide life saving operations.
The bottom line in Urban Search and Rescue–someday lives may be saved because of the skills of the rescuers. These first responders consistently go to the front lines when America needs them most. Members of task forces are also local firefighters and paramedics who answer when you call 9-1-1 at home in your local community.
For more information about Urban Search and Rescue click here.
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