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LA and OC Search & Rescue Teams Heading to Haiti
Aid from the US is mobilizing and heading to Haiti to help the earthquake-ravaged nation with search and rescue operations, and teams from both Los Angeles and Orange counties are part of the effort.
Late yesterday the "Los Angeles County Fire Department's 72-member team and thousands of pounds of equipment and supplies rushed from Los Angeles to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County," according to cbs2. Their military transport departed for Haiti at 10:09 p.m. last night.
"The team is comprised of firefighters and paramedics rescue specialists, emergency room physicians, structural engineers, heavy equipment specialists, canine search dogs and handlers, hazardous materials technicians, communications specialists and logistics specialists," explains the SCV's Signal; five firefighters from two battalions in the SCV are part of the envoy. Departing today is the team from Orange County. The California Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 5 is "one of eight stationed in California that respond during natural disasters and other emergencies," notes cbs2. The two 31-member teams include "paramedics, search dogs and communication specialists."
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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