Hundreds of first responders, national leaders attend hurricane disaster simulation

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – A hurricane disaster simulation took place with over 250 Texas A&M Texas Task Force 1 members at Disaster City on Saturday.

Simulations included rubble pile searches, partial building collapse rescues and even water rescue exercises with helicopters. Over 250 task force members participated with military specialists and even FEMA leaders.

“We’ve actually got some high-ranking people from the FEMA organization here to watch this and they say this is the best practice, that we need to be using across the nation. That ensures people are practicing what we do, are already familiar with each other and have that muscle memory so when it’s go time, the priority is life safety,” Texas A&M Texas Task Force 1 training manager, Stephen Bjune, said. “We have over 250 responders and 15 dogs working and throughout this entire site.”

When first responder teams get deployed, the group of K-9s is a vital aspect of the team, especially in search and rescue scenarios.

“We are a Canine Search Specialist Team. Taz finds live people, some of his buddies find dead people, but he only finds live people,” Tom Holm, a K-9 Search Specialist, said. “Taz will pick up a scent from 100 feet away. Just go ‘oh’ and just take off to it. Taz barks when he finds people.”

This is tough work for any human, but also the K-9s. This is where a 15-year partnership with the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences fits. Even, in training situations.

“The dogs are probably one of the most important assets in the search system because that nose is so amazing at finding people when our eyes and our ears and things can’t,” Deb Zoran, Director of the Veterinary Emergency Team,” said. “We’re here to make sure that you have the nutrition or the post-work, rehabilitation, things that they sometimes need. But we’re also here if something really bad happens and God forbid that ever happens, but in this world, it’s a realistic possibility and so we want to be there.”

70 community volunteers were also used for the training. For those interested in joining a career in search specialization, an information event will be hosted at Disaster City in April. Visit this link for more information.