September 9, 2008

Firefighters Deployed with Indiana Task Force 1

         White River Township personnel were deployed with Indiana Task Force 1 to assist with the storms that have pounded the east and gulf coasts of the United States. Battalion Chief Mark Hart was deployed on September 5th and has spent the last two weeks in Louisiana due to the potential effects of Hurricane Gustav. Captain Joe Settles was deployed on September 9 and met up with the team yesterday in Louisiana. Both men are rescue specialists with the team and provide advanced knowledge of collapse, water, rope, trench and confined space rescue. The team is expected to stay in the south and wait on Hurricane Ike which is currently in the Gulf of Mexico and expected to make landfall this weekend.

        Indiana Task Force 1 is one of 28 Urban Search and Rescue Teams throughout the United States. Urban search and rescue involves the location, extrication, and initial medical stabilization of victims trapped in confined spaces. Structural collapse is most often the cause of victims being trapped, but victims may also be trapped in transportation accidents, mines and collapsed trenches. For more information on Urban Search and Rescue Teams, click HERE.  (Reprinted with permission of the Daily Journal)
 
   

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