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25-576: The Virginia Beach Fire Department is the founding member of one of Virginia's two FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force . Virginia Task Force 2 (VA-TF2) is available to respond to natural or man-made disasters around the country and the world to assist with search and rescue , medical support, damage assessment and communications. The VBFD Marine Operations Team is responsible for patrolling 59 square miles (150 km) of inland waterways as well as 38 miles (61 km) of shoreline. The team also provides mutual aid to parts of North Carolina as well as

50-497: A critical element of each US&R Task Force as their keen sense of smell allows them to locate victims that might go undiscovered. The majority of the dog handlers on the Task Forces are civilian volunteers. The dogs are usually considered to be family pets by the handlers when the dogs are not on duty. The canine rescuers will become unmotivated if they are unsuccessful in locating victims, as they consider search and rescue to be

75-520: A particular piece of apparatus came from. The "M" at the end of the unit designation represents an ALS capable unit (paramedic on board), which all Fairfax County Engines, Trucks, Towers, and Rescues are at optimal staffing levels. The "M" is not verbalized. FCFRD consists of 42 fire stations spread out across the county's 407 square miles (1,050 km ), serving a population of 1.15 million residents. With over 1,400 uniformed staff, 300 civilian employees, and 350 operational and administrative volunteers,

100-413: A serious risk to the dog while working if they were to become snagged on steel rebar or other items contained within a disaster site. Because the dogs often work out of sight and out of reach of the handler, it is critical to minimize the possibility of the dog becoming trapped in a confined space or choking from an entangled collar. Because of the distinct possibility of injury from broken glass and metal,

125-429: A total of 103,946 incidents countywide for FY2018. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue also sponsors one of the nation's Urban Search and Rescue response teams. Named 'Virginia Task Force 1,' the team is composed of approximately 200 specially trained career and volunteer fire and rescue personnel, with expertise in the rescue of victims from collapsed structures, following a natural or man-made catastrophic event. The team

150-678: A type of game. To keep the canines engaged after long hours of working, one of the Task Force members will hide in the rubble so the dog will have a successful 'find'. In most instances, the dogs do not wear any equipment (collars, vests, booties, etc.) while working a debris pile. Protective booties may be used in areas where traction is not a primary safety concern. However, on large, unstable debris piles dogs typically do not wear booties or other protective equipment as they need to be able to splay their paws to obtain maximum traction and maintain balance. Harnesses, collars and other equipment can also pose

175-557: A variety of different situations ranging from natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes to man-made disasters such as gas explosions and bombings. Listed below are a few of the notable situations that US&R Task Forces have responded to: The 28 teams of the US&;R Task Force program are spread throughout the United States. The teams are identified by the official two-letter U.S. Postal Service state abbreviations followed by

200-481: Is a combination career and volunteer organization that provides fire suppression services , emergency medical response services , technical rescue services , hazardous materials Response services , water rescue services, life safety education, fire prevention and arson investigation services to Fairfax County , Virginia . Emergency medical services include advanced life support response by ALS (Advanced Life Support) capable engines and transport units. As part of

225-459: Is composed of emergency managers and planners, physicians and paramedics and includes specialists in the fields of structural engineering, heavy rigging, collapse rescue, logistics, hazardous materials, communications, canine operations, and technical search. Virginia Task Force 1 has partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security / Federal Emergency Management Agency for domestic response and

250-701: Is designed to be transported by tractor trailer or in the cargo hold of one C-17 transport aircraft or two C-130 transport aircraft. The equipment cache allows the Task Force to operate independently for up to four days. The cache contains five categories of equipment: Medical, Search and Rescue, Communications, Technical Support and Logistics. The medical portion of the cache includes medical treatment and tools to provide sophisticated medical treatment for victims and task force members, including limited treatment of disaster search canines. The treatment materials are designed to be enough to handle 10 critical cases, 15 moderate cases and 25 minor cases. Items included in

275-1329: Is not included in the cache, and is to be found or acquired at the disaster site. Equipment used includes generators , lights, radios, cellular phones , laptop computers . Task Force personnel are issued portable radios at the point of departure to a disaster and are responsible for that radio until the Task Force returns to the point of departure. The radios operate in the 403-430 MHz range and are capable of penetrating structures and below grade environments (i.e. underground). Equipment used includes snake-like cameras, fiberscopes , sensitive listening devices, measuring devices such as laser rangefinders , strain gauges and levels ; audio-visual equipment such as still and video cameras , LCD projectors ; haz-mat equipment and support equipment for canines such as kennels , harnesses and sleeping pads. Equipment includes sleeping bags , cots, food and water, as well as cold weather gear , portable toilets, portable showers, safety equipment such as gloves , earplugs , kneepads , respirators and protective eyewear ; administrative equipment such as office supplies and reference materials; equipment maintenance materials and Task Force members' personal gear. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department

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300-832: The 1989 Leninakan earthquakes . After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake , seeing the value in having a network of such teams in the United States, FEMA created the National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response System that same year. In 1992, the concept was incorporated into the Federal Response Plan first published in 1992 and was later retained in the National Response Plan and the National Response Framework. FEMA sponsored 25 national urban search-and-rescue task forces. The number of teams has expanded to 28 since 1991. Task Forces respond to

325-503: The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments , Fairfax County Fire and Rescue is labeled number 4 in the 800 MHz trunked radio system. All FCFR units begin with 4 followed by the station number. For example, the engine from station 19 is E419M, and the tower-ladder from station 1 is TL401M. During an emergency that would require a response from multiple agencies, dispatchers are quickly able to identify what county

350-599: The U.S. Coast Guard . The operations team has three fireboats at their disposal: - 36°45′2.4″N 76°3′17.4″W  /  36.750667°N 76.054833°W  / 36.750667; -76.054833 FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force A FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force ( US&R Task Force ) is a team of individuals specializing in urban search and rescue , disaster recovery, and emergency triage and medicine. The teams are deployed to emergency and disaster sites within six hours of notification. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) created

375-532: The United States Agency for International Development /Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance during international missions. As a part of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, the task force maintains constant operational readiness as a local resource for residents of Fairfax County and surrounding jurisdictions. ● Almost all apparatus are considered career-staffed unless where marked by

400-576: The FEMA Task Forces goes back to the early 1980s when the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department and Miami-Dade County Fire Department created search and rescue teams to deal with rescue operations in collapsed buildings. The State Department and the Office of Foreign Disaster Aid requested the help of these teams to assist with rescue operations in the 1985 Mexico City , the 1990 Luzon and

425-652: The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is the largest fire department in the Commonwealth of Virginia . The Fairfax County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association (FCVFRA) partners with the FCFRD to combine 12 volunteer fire and rescue departments in Fairfax County. Volunteers in these 12 departments are full partners with the career staff of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, providing emergency services in and around Fairfax County. These volunteers are trained to

450-447: The Task Force concept to provide support for large scale disasters in the United States. FEMA provides financial, technical and training support for the Task Forces as well as creating and verifying the standards of Task Force personnel and equipment. There are 28 Task Forces in the United States, each sponsored by a local agency. In the event of a disaster in the United States, the nearest three Task Forces will be activated and sent to

475-544: The Task Force. The search and rescue portion of the cache contains all the equipment that the search and rescue teams will need to extricate victims from debris. Technical search tools include telescopic cameras with heat detecting sensors and seismic listening devices (Delsar). Construction type equipment includes concrete saws , jackhammers , drills and rope , and technical rescue type equipment such as lifting airbags , shore systems , and hydraulic rescue tools . Non-reusable shoring material such as lumber and pipe

500-597: The canine and handler to locate an unknown number of buried subjects in multiple rubble piles in a limited period of time. All canine teams in the FEMA USAR system must achieve and maintain an advanced certification through the Certification Evaluation program to be considered a depolyable resource. This process is analogous to the Type II Basic and Type I Advanced certifications used prior to 2006. The origins of

525-673: The letters TF for Task Force and a sequential number for the number of the task force for that state. The numbering of the Task Forces is in alphabetical order of the sponsoring agency location within each state. The U.S. Army's 911th Engineer Company , modeled on a FEMA USAR Task Force, provides additional response to the National Capital Region. FEMA has created a standardized list of equipment that each Task Force maintains. The 16,400 pieces of equipment are cached and palletized for quick access and transportation. The complete load of equipment weighs 60,000 pounds (27,215 kg) and

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550-476: The medical cache are medicines, intravenous fluids , blankets, suture sets, airways, tracheal tubes , defibrillators , burn treatment supplies, bone saws and scalpels . On site, the "durable" medical equipment will stay with the Task Force when patients are transferred to other medical facilities. The local medical facilities must provide their own medical equipment as the equipment may be needed again by

575-399: The medical unit maintains supplies for the canine rescuers. After first passing an evaluation of basic obedience, alert, directional control, agility and search skills currently known as an FSA (Foundational Skills Assessment), all canine/handler teams must pass an advanced certification known as a Certification Evaluation (or CE). This advanced certification process evaluates the ability of

600-474: The same standards as career personnel and are involved in all aspects of the fire and rescue services from staffing ambulances and fire suppression vehicles to participating in domestic and international urban search and rescue. As independent, nonprofit organizations, the volunteer departments own 8 of the 42 fire stations in Fairfax County and operate out of an additional 7 fire stations. Over 355 volunteer personnel placed units in service on 1,877 occasions, out of

625-665: The site of the disaster. If the situation is large enough, additional teams will be activated. Each Task Force is capable of deploying as a Type I with 70 personnel or a Type III with 28 personnel. This deployment configuration is increased if the Task Force mobilizes for a ground transport. Each task force member is a specialist in one of four areas: The search and rescue personnel are organized into four rescue squads , each composed of an officer and five rescue specialists, and are capable of working 12-hour alternating shifts. The medical personnel include two task force physicians and four medical specialists. The canine rescuers are

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