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Texas Task Force 1 deploying to Haiti to support search and rescue operation

Date: January 14, 2010

COLLEGE STATION - Texas Governor Rick Perry has authorized Texas Task Force 1 (TX-TF1) to deploy at the request of FEMA to support search and rescue operations in the Caribbean nation of Haiti. This deployment marks the first international deployment since the team was established in 1998. The task force will deploy to the Caribbean nation aboard Department of Defense aircraft from Houston on the afternoon of Jan. 14. TX-TF1 will be joining other task forces that have been activated from Virginia, California and Florida.

The TX-TF1 Urban Search and Rescue Team is comprised of 80 personnel, 4 search and rescue canines, search and technical rescue personnel, physicians, paramedics, structural engineers, other support personnel, and approximately 51 tons of rescue equipment and supplies. The team is self-sustaining for 14 days and deployable by aircraft to anywhere in the United States within 4 hours of activation. The task force has also deployed nationally over 70 times, to include the Shuttle Columbia disaster, the World Trade Center, Hurricanes Katrina and Ike.

Since 1998, TX-TF1 has used the unique facilities at Disaster City® as its primary training and testing area for large-scale incidents. Located in College Station, Texas, this 52-acre mock city, includes numerous full-scale collapsed buildings and has trained search and rescue teams from across the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.

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