How Many Urban Search and Rescue Teams Do We Have in the U.S.?

Yes, there are 28 funded Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) teams made up of approximately 70 personnel.

No, these are not FEMA employees. The teams come usually from major population centers and may be from one city, or a group of cities/counties/districts.

When you have a collapsed building, like we have seen in Turkey, that takes an entire urban search and rescue team. So, our national capacity is 28 collapsed buildings. That is right, 28! Sure, a fire department could go do search and rescue on a collapsed soft-story, multiple-wood-floors building, but it takes specialized tools and training to undertake rescues in a collapsed concrete and brick building.

When I designed earthquake exercises I always put a policy-level decision in the mix that is a surefire way to get the elected officials feeling a bit weak in the knees. The situation is this: You have 10 to 20 collapsed buildings and only five teams allocated to your jurisdiction. Which buildings get teams? Schools, nursing homes, downtown high rises, hospitals?

This is the dilemma jurisdictions will face here in the United States at some point in the future. Remember too, it takes time for a team to mobilize and be transported to the site of an earthquake and become operational. You can’t just snap your fingers and have them there immediately. If they are not in the community already, likely it will take a minimum of 24 to 48 hours to assemble, pack out, and transport them via aircraft and then truck to the collapsed structure before they become operational at a site.