NYC Search & Rescue Taskforce Heads To Haiti

A warehouse in Bedford-Stuyvesant was where the New York City Urban Search & Rescue Task Force members were gathering. The 80 or so members of Task Force One are hoping to be on the ground in Haiti by the afternoon.

The rescue team is managed by the Office of Emergency Management. It is made up of highly trained personnel from the NYPD and FDNY who specialize in disaster relief and emergency triage and medicine.

Befitting of their name, the taskforce has been loading equipment they could use to search for victims through the sea of rubble that remains of the capital.

The taskforce will travel with a doctor and 4 K-9 units.

This is just one aspect of a community wide response to a national tragedy.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg greeted members of the task force at the Office of Emergency Management’s (OEM) warehouse in Brooklyn prior their departure.
 
“President Obama asked for our assistance and we are answering his call to respond to the unimaginably tragic events in Haiti by sending the best – our specially trained joint task force of New York City police officers and firefighters,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The world came to our aid on 9/11 and we want to provide assistance around the globe when needed, whether it’s giving supplies, sharing lessons learned, or sending our first responders to help people. Our team should be on the ground in Haiti later today and I want to say to all of them, on behalf of all New Yorkers – be safe and thank you for lending a hand to people in dire need.”