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Hamilton
County Urban Search & Rescue (USAR)Task Force
A program of the Hamilton County Fire Chief’s Association
Planned in 1996-1997as the county Fire Chief’s acknowledged
the need for improved technical rescue capability in the county
and the expense in training, personnel and equipment needed to
achieve that capability. A cooperative effort was designed to
address the need, based on a FEMA USAR TASK FORCE model. Task
Force became operational in early 1998 Initial funding was 60%
PRIVATE DONATION. Approximate direct costs of the equipment cache
was $450,000. Costs of staff training and response has generally
been borne by the many participating departments. Many individual
members have borne the costs of personal protective equipment
themselves.
The Task Force is 105 members strong, from 28 different departments,
reaching outside Hamilton County to include members from Clermont,
Warren and Butler County.
Training and Experience
All of our personnel have received a required training course
of 200 hours and have received continuing education in the technical
rescue disciplines of : trench, confined space, machinery. structural
collapse, search, swift water and high angle rescue each year.
We have shown a consistent ability to deliver 45 members to an
emergency scene in less than 60 minutes.
The Task Force delivers a contingent of specially trained personnel
with a cache of equipment that exceeds the FEMA “HEAVY”
classification.
Our emergency response experience includes, search (wild land and
technical), trench and structural collapse situations in Hamilton,
Warren and Clermont counties. We responded to widespread tornado
damage in Montgomery, Ohio (1999) and Xenia, Ohio (2000).
“outreach”
and integration…
Interfaces very well with the FEMA Task Force in Ohio –Ohio
Task Force-1, based at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton. Forty (40)
of the 105 members of Hamilton County USAR are also members of Ohio
Task Force-1. Our training, equipment and procedures are nearly
identical.
Hamilton County USAR has begun serving as a model for statewide
development of fast-response technical rescue capability in the
Franklin, Summit and Cuyahoga county areas in a project of the
Ohio Fire Chief’s and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency
(EMA). Intent is to create a fast-moving, well equipped, well-trained
technical rescue response throughout the state pending mobilization
of Ohio Task Force-1 and other FEMA task forces.
Locally, Hamilton County USAR integrates our effort with The
Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS), Greater Cincinnati
Hazardous Materials Team and the local law enforcement community
to address the threat of terrorism or naturally occurring disaster.
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