2010 opening ceremonies

Haiti Earthquake: Response of American US&R Task Forces and the Rescue of Deeply Entombed Victims

Larry Collins, Battalion Chief, USAR Task Force 103, LA County FD, CA

When the Island nation of Haiti was hit with a catastrophic earthquake on January 12, 2010, locating survivors trapped in the rubble was a primary consideration.  Within 30 minutes of the quake, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) activated the two U.S. government international USAR Task Forces, USA-1 (Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, Virginia) and USA-2 (L.A. County Fire Department). USAID and the Department of Defense worked to get USA-1 and USA-2 on the ground in Haiti ASAP.  USA-1 arrived first and established a Base of Operations (BoO) within the walls of the U.S. Embassy compound outside of Port au Prince.  USA-2 arrived several hours later and convoyed to the BoO.  Within hours of touching down, the teams were conducting structure triage and rescue.  They were joined by three other American US&R task forces that were deployed under other arrangements:  New York Task Force 1 and Florida Task Forces 1 (Miami-Dade) and 2 (Miami).  Together, they accounted for nearly 50 of the 150 rescues of deeply entombed victims in Port au Prince.

As they fought their way through the traffic and chaos into central Port au Prince, the teams knew this event would far exceed any they ever witnessed in terms of death, destruction, and suffering.  Literally everywhere they looked, they saw many collapsed structures.  There were actually too many downed buildings to count.  But there was also hope their training prepared them for just this kind of event.  The following days became a blur of devastation mixed with live saves made by dedicated rescuers and Haitians helping in any way they could; of exhaustion and sleep deprivation as crews worked day and night in a race against time and death; and remarkable successes and heart-wrenching sorrow.  But there was also hope, because rescuers were still finding people alive nearly a week after the quake, and the people in the street, even in the most dangerous neighborhoods, understood why we were there and helped where they could.  Many live rescues were being conducted by US&R task force members spread across the impact area, often spending many hours tunneling through collapsed multi-story reinforced concrete and masonry buildings.

In the end, more than 200,000 people were counted dead, with tens of thousands seriously injured, more than 1 million homeless, and nearly indescribable devastation.  But the efforts of rescue teams that responded from across the globe to help, brought some measure of hope to the catastrophe.  And for those who were rescued, they lived to see another day because of this truly international response.

This presentation will discuss that operation, including some of the most harrowing rescue operations.ALL ATTENDEES WITH A FIREHOUSE EXPO BADGE ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND.