# Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force 1

Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force 1 (FL-TF1) is a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force based in Miami-Dade County, Florida and sponsored by the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department. The mission of FL-TF1 is to respond to natural and man-made disasters to provide search and rescue as well as both medical and communications support.
As with all FEMA Task Forces, FL-TF1 is trained in physical search and rescue in damaged or collapsed structures as well as in areas that have sustained significant flooding. Additionally the task force specializes in providing medical care at the scene of a disaster for trapped victims. FL-TF1 is also specifically trained in satellite communication systems that can be used in areas where normal communication infrastructure has been damaged.
Once notified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the team has a six-hour window to mobilize 70 team members to report to a prearranged departure point. FL-TF1 is composed mostly of personnel from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department but other outside specialists are brought in as needed. In addition, FL-TF1 has nine FEMA certified canine teams, each composed of a handler and a search dog.

## History

In the early 1980s two fire departments, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department out of Fairfax County, Virginia worked together under an agreement with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance to provide international search and rescue assistance in times of disaster. Starting in 1991, FEMA incorporated a USAR team into its federal response plan. These 20+ teams that would later become the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces were chosen throughout the country based on geographic location with local public safety departments as sponsoring agencies.

## Deployments

Since its creation in the 1980s, FL-TF1 has responded to a wide range of disasters around the world.

### Earthquakes

| Year | Event | Location |
| 1985 | Mexico City Earthquake | Mexico City |
| 1986 | San Salvador Earthquake | El Salvador |
| 1988 | Armenia Earthquake | Armenia |
| 1990 | Luzon Earthquake | Philippines |
| 1997 | Cariaco Earthquake | Venezuela |
| 1999 | Colombia Earthquake | Colombia |
| 1999 | Izmit Earthquake | Turkey |
| 1999 | Jiji Earthquake | Taiwan |
| 2010 | Haiti Earthquake | Haiti |

### Hurricanes

| Year | Event | Location |
| 1988 | Hurricane Gilbert | Jamaica |
| 1989 | Hurricane Hugo | Eastern Caribbean |
| 1992 | Hurricane Andrew | Miami |
| 1995 | Hurricane Luis | Caribbean |
| 1995 | Hurricane Marilyn | Caribbean |
| 1995 | Hurricane Opal | North Florida |
| 2000 | Hurricane Keith | Belize |
| 2004 | Hurricane Charley | Charlotte County, Florida |
| 2005 | Hurricane Katrina | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| 2008 | Hurricane Gustav | Texas |
| 2008 | Hurricane Ike | Gulf Coast |
| 2017 | Hurricane Harvey | Texas |
| 2017 | Hurricane Irma | Florida Keys |
| 2017 | Hurricane Maria | Puerto Rico |
| 2018 | Hurricane Florence | South Carolina |
| 2018 | Hurricane Michael | Florida panhandle |
| 2019 | Hurricane Dorian | The Bahamas |
| 2021 | Hurricane Ida | Mississippi |
| 2022 | Hurricane Ian | Southwest Florida, Florida |
| 2023 | Hurricane Idalia | Big Bend region, Florida |
| 2024 | Hurricane Debby | Steinhatchee, Florida |
| 2024 | Hurricane Helene | Big Bend region, Florida |
| 2024 | Hurricane Milton | Siesta Key, Florida |

### Building explosions and collapses

| Year | Event | Location |
| 1995 | Oklahoma City Bombing | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| 1996 | Colombo Central Bank Bombing | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| 1996 | Humberto Vidal Explosion | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| 2001 | World Trade Center Attack | Lower Manhattan, New York |
| 2001 | Pentagon Attack | Washington, D.C. |
| 2007 | Barbados Apartment Collapse | Barbados |
| 2021 | Surfside Condominium Collapse | Surfside, Florida |

### Aviation Disasters

| Year | Event | Location |
| 1995-96 | American Airlines Flight 965 | Buga, Colombia |
| 1996 | ValuJet Flight 592 | Everglades, Florida |

### Communications support

| Year | Event | Location |
| 1989 | Romanian Revolution | Romania |
| 1991 | Iraqi Uprisings | Northern Iraq & Turkey |
| 1994 | Rwandan Genocide | Rwanda |
| 1994 | Operation Uphold Democracy | Haiti |
| 1995 | Soufrière Hills Eruption | Montserrat |
| 1995 | Sierra Leone Civil War | Sierra Leone |
| 1996 | Bosnian War | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 1998 | U.S Embassy Bombing | Nairobi, Kenya |

### Other Events

| Year | Event | Location |
| 2000 | 2000 Mozambique Flood | Mozambique |