LANDFALL OF A MAJOR HURRICANE, GUSTAVE, IS NOW A CERTAINTY and among the preparations being made for it are the deployment in advance of fire and rescue units.
The American Ambulance Association has sent an email to all member agencies calling for help in providing extra ambulances on standby. Any agencies and services that are able to deploy to the targeted region in advance of the storm are encouraged to phone the NATCOM Operations Center at 866-219-9253.
In addition, not only are the nation’s urban search and rescue teams being readied, but an international US&R team from Liverpool, England, is being sent over to assist.
The Liverpool Echo is reporting:
Six firefighters from Croxteth Fire Station’s urban search and rescue team boarded a flight today to Newark before taking a connecting flight to Houston.
They are expected to travel to southern Texas.
Each of the firefighters from Merseyside, who will be led by senior officer, Paul Murphy, is swift-water trained and also have additional specialist training in areas such as technical searches, propping buildings and medical skills.
Assistant chief fire officer Bill Evans, said: “We got a call earlier this week from the Texas taskforce which is one of the groups that make up the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“We signed a memorandum of understanding with them in 2006 and agreed to mobilise a team wherever they are deployed.”
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