Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force 1 (FL-TF1) is a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force based in Miami-Dade County, Florida and sponsored by the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department. FL-TF1 responds to disasters to provide search and rescue, medical, communications support.
As with all FEMA Task Forces, FL-TF1 is trained in physical search and rescue in damaged or collapsed structures as well as in areas that have sustained significant flooding. Additionally the task force specializes in providing medical care at the scene of a disaster for trapped victims. FL-TF1 is also specifically trained in satellite communication systems that can be used in areas where normal communication infrastructure has been damaged.
Once notified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the team has a six-hour window to mobilize 70 team members to report to a prearranged departure point. FL-TF1 is composed mostly of personnel from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department but other outside specialists are brought in as needed. In addition, FL-TF1 has nine FEMA certified canine teams, each composed of a handler and a search dog.
History In the early 1980s two fire departments, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department out of Fairfax County, Virginia worked together under an agreement with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance to provide international search and rescue assistance in times of disaster. Starting in 1991, FEMA incorporated a USAR team into its federal response plan. These 20+ teams that would later become the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces were chosen throughout the country based on geographic location with local public safety departments as sponsoring agencies.
In 2001, it was one of only two FEMA task forces trained for overseas deployments, the other being Urban Search and Rescue Virginia Task Force 1.
Deployments Since its creation in the 1980s, FL-TF1 has responded to a wide range of disasters around the world.
Earthquakes Year Event Location1985Mexico City Earthquake Mexico City1986San Salvador Earthquake El Salvador1988Armenia Earthquake Armenia1990Luzon Earthquake Philippines1997Cariaco Earthquake Venezuela1999Colombia Earthquake Colombia1999Izmit Earthquake Turkey1999Jiji Earthquake Taiwan2010Haiti Earthquake Haiti Hurricanes Year Event Location1988 Hurricane Gilbert Jamaica1989 Hurricane Hugo Eastern Caribbean1992 Hurricane Andrew Miami1995 Hurricane Luis Caribbean1995 Hurricane Marilyn Caribbean1995 Hurricane Opal North Florida2000 Hurricane Keith Belize2004 Hurricane Charley Charlotte County, Florida2005 Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana2008 Hurricane Gustav Texas2008 Hurricane Ike Gulf Coast2017 Hurricane Harvey Texas2017 Hurricane Irma Florida Keys2017 Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico2018 Hurricane Florence South Carolina2018 Hurricane Michael Florida panhandle2019 Hurricane Dorian The Bahamas2021 Hurricane Ida Mississippi2022 Hurricane Ian Southwest Florida, Florida2023 Hurricane Idalia Big Bend region, Florida2024 Hurricane Debby Steinhatchee, Florida2024 Hurricane Helene Big Bend region, Florida2024 Hurricane Milton Siesta Key, Florida
Building explosions and collapses Year Event Location1995Oklahoma City BombingOklahoma City, Oklahoma1996Colombo Central Bank BombingColombo, Sri Lanka1996Humberto Vidal ExplosionSan Juan, Puerto Rico2001World Trade Center AttackLower Manhattan, New York2001Pentagon AttackWashington, D.C.2007Barbados Apartment CollapseBarbados2021Surfside Condominium CollapseSurfside, Florida
Aviation Disasters Year Event Location1995-96American Airlines Flight 965Buga, Colombia1996ValuJet Flight 592Everglades, Florida
Communications support Year Event Location1989Romanian RevolutionRomania1991Iraqi UprisingsNorthern Iraq & Turkey1994Rwandan GenocideRwanda1994Operation Uphold DemocracyHaiti1995Soufrière Hills EruptionMontserrat1995Sierra Leone Civil WarSierra Leone1996Bosnian WarBosnia and Herzegovina1998U.S Embassy BombingNairobi, Kenya
Other Events Year Event Location20002000 Mozambique FloodMozambique
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