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Fire
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Recent Press Release
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St. Charles Firefighters Have
'The Right Stuff' for FEMA US & R Team
- Passion, Dedication and Training Benefit
St. Charles Residents
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon on September 11, 2001 have thrust Federal Emergency
Management Agency's (FEMA) Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams
into the spotlight. Their important work has transfixed a world
and brought a surge of gratitude and support. There are 28 teams
across the United States. St. Charles is fortunate and proud to
have seven firefighters on the Missouri US&R Team.
"The US&R Response System is a framework for structuring local
emergency services personnel into integrated disaster response
task forces," said Ernie Rhodes, Fire Chief for the City of St.
Charles. "These task forces, complete with necessary tools and
equipment, and required skills and techniques, can be quickly
deployed by FEMA for the
rescue of victims of structural collapse anywhere in the United
States."
A member of the US&R since 2000, Chief Rhodes serves as a Rescue
Manager and was deployed to the World Trade Center, Hurricane
Isabel, and Hurricane Dennis. Robb Watkins is the department's
Training Officer and serves as Squad Officer on US&R. Other team
members serve as Rescue Specialists and include Captain Kerry
Hammann - Station 5, Captain Larry Hagedorn - Station 5, Captain
Gary Bird - Station 2, Captain David Fecht - Station 3, and
Firefighter Gerard Orf - Station 5.
The qualifications and training are rigorous. First, all team
members are trained and certified emergency medical technicians.
Then positions fall into roughly four categories: search and
rescue, medical, technical and logistics. The US&R training
included eight weekends and 80 hours of training categorized into
different disciplines including shoring, breaking & cutting
concrete, heavy equipment cranes lifting concrete. The Rescue
Specialists are trained to conduct physical search-and-rescue in
collapsed buildings; arrange for emergency medical care to trapped
victims; work with search-and-rescue dogs; perform assessment and
control of gas, electric service and hazardous materials; and
perform evaluation and stabilization of damaged structures.
According to Robb Watkins, "The extensive FEMA training we've
completed is already in use locally and is a tremendous benefit
for the citizens of St. Charles. There have been a number of
trench collapses where the training proved to be invaluable. We've
also used many of the FEMA techniques to shore up compromised
structures."
Chief Rhodes' team members were selected for the Missouri US&R
Team in February, 2005. They look forward to the opportunity to
serve their country, while continuing to serve St. Charles
residents. |
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The mission
of the St. Charles Fire Department is:
· Service without boundaries;
·
Compassion and Integrity in all that we do;
·
Courage to move forward.
Ernie Rhodes,
City of St. Charles
Fire
Chief
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Introduction