Our guest speakers for our October 26th meeting were Captains Mike Parker (L) and Mike Good (R) of the Colorado Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1 (CO-TF1) who spoke of the task force's recent deployments providing disaster response and assistance to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. They provided a lively and interesting presentation and addressed the many questions posed by the club members present. The National Urban Search and Rescue Response System, established by FEMA in 1989, provides a framework for structuring local emergency services personnel into integrated disaster response forces. These task forces, such as CO-TF1, equipped with the necessary tools, equipment, requisite skills and techniques are then deployed by FEMA for the rescue of victims of structural collapse. CO-TF1 has approximately 200 highly trained members from 28 different public and private agencies located throughout Colorado which respond to disasters throughout the US. CO-TF1 is designed to be totally self-sufficient for the first 72 hours of a deployment and has responded to the collapse of the World Trade Center during 9-11, other hurricanes, floods and tornadoes.
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