\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recently a Mobilization Exercise (MOBEX) of two Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Regional Task Forces (RTF\u2019s), comprised of 29 highly trained members was conducted at the Long Beach Fire Training Center.\u00a0 The MOBEX involved members of the Office of Emergency Services (OES) (US&R) RTF 2 comprised of (Area E \u2013 Vernon, Downey, Montebello, Santa Fe Springs, and Compton) and RTF 3 (Area F \u2013 Long Beach) with air support provided from the United States Coast Guard and Los Angeles Sheriff\u2019s Airship 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The drill included multiple complex dispatch locations: Port of Long Beach, Downey Studios, and the Long Beach Fire Training Center.\u00a0 The drill simulated multiple large debris flows through urban areas with a large life hazard following significant rainstorms.\u00a0 The two RTF\u2019s were dispatched with the goal of a 45 min assembly\/response time. The RTF\u2019s goal is to somewhat bridge the gap between the local first responders, and the 12-hour minimum response time of the larger Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Task Forces. Both RTF\u2019s gathered at the Long Beach Fire Training Center to establish a Base of Operations (BOO).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The drill emphasized the abilities of these teams to conduct Reconnaissance and Search multiple affected areas, both on the ground and from air support, and to prioritize (triage) their rescue efforts. Search teams were comprised of Technical Search Specialists, Rescue Specialists, Structural Specialists, K9 Specialists, and Medical Specialists.\u00a0 Once victims were located, they were triaged, extricated (if necessary), and treated for their injuries.<\/p>\n
Some victims were located and rescued with the use of search dogs, while others required complex rope systems and even air support to transport them to safety.\u00a0 Interoperability played a key part in the team\u2019s success in completing the complex rescue tasks. Over 60 members participated and many lessons were learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The drill concluded with a critique and will be followed by a formal After Action Report.\u00a0 This report will detail the objectives of the MOBEX, reinforce the strengths of the teams, and identify areas that can still be improved. In the future, more of these drills will be conducted on an at least\u00a0 annual basis to ensure these teams are at their most efficient and capable levels.<\/p>\n
With the recent deployments of California FEMA US&R task forces to help with those affected by the Earthquake in Haiti and the eminent size-able rainfall predicted in the region. The RTF\u2019s could be requested for mutual aid assistance if the rain does in fact cause problems and for any other types of situations that may require a team of technical experts with their specialized equipment, now or in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 Recently a Mobilization Exercise (MOBEX) of two Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Regional Task Forces (RTF\u2019s), comprised of 29 highly trained members was conducted at the Long Beach Fire Training Center.\u00a0 The MOBEX involved members of the Office of Emergency Services (OES) (US&R) RTF 2 comprised of (Area E \u2013 Vernon, Downey, Montebello, Santa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1981"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1985,"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981\/revisions\/1985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firechannel.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}