Urban Search and Rescue is a plan of action for responding to disasters and for addressing the consequences of incidents or emergency situations when specialized personnel are needed for search and rescue.
The plan is applicable to natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, dam failures and/or terrorist activities. As part of its disaster planning, mitigation and response function, the State Emergency Management Agency has implemented a plan to develop an Urban Search and Rescue capability within the State of Missouri. This concept, entitled Missouri based-US&R (Missouri Urban Search and Rescue), calls for the development of a tiered response system to catastrophic events which require urban search and rescue.
The Boone County Fire Protection District has coordinated and implemented the development of an Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. This US&R Task Force operates under the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in a similar capacity to those established in California and several other states. Through a memorandum of agreement with the State Emergency Management Agency, the Boone County Fire Protection District serves as a resource for personnel, management, training and a portion of the equipment cache.
The task force will be deployed throughout Missouri by the State Emergency Management Agency. Requests for out-of-state responses would be made by FEMA to the State Emergency Management Agency in Jefferson City. The director of SEMA would then obtain the governor's consent to deploy the task force, the cost of which would be covered by FEMA.
Among the capabilities of each US&R Task Force are:
\(bu Physical search and rescue operations in damaged/collapsed structures;
\(bu Emergency medical care to disaster response personnel;
\(bu Emergency medical care to the injured;
\(bu Reconnaissance to assess damages and needs and to provide feedback to local, state and Federal officials;
\(bu Assessment/shut off of utilities to houses and buildings;
\(bu Hazardous materials surveys/evaluations;
\(bu Structural/hazard evaluations of government/municipal buildings needed for immediate occupancy to support disaster relief operations; and
\(bu Stabilizing damaged structures, including shoring and cribbing
of damaged buildings.
The ultimate goal for the State of Missouri would be to have three (3) such teams, the first within the central part of the state, the second within the eastern part and the third in the western area. All teams would support and back-up each other if necessary.