Need for Dedicated Technical Rescue Companies.

摘要

Technical rescue is a discipline most commonly associated with civilian firefighters and local emergency responders, but the principles of technical rescue are exercised quite frequently throughout the Engineer Branch of the United States Army. Technical rescue refers to those aspects of saving life or property that employ the use of tools and skills that exceed those normally reserved for firefighting, medical emergency, and rescue crews. These disciplines include the following: Rope rescue, Swiftwater rescue, Confined- space rescue, Ski rescue, Cave rescue, Trench/excavation rescue, and Building collapse rescue. Although the Branch is consumed by the need to sustain combat, geospatial, and general engineering operations throughout the world, the fourth element of operations civil support must not be overlooked. The United States Army is continually called on to serve at home and abroad in response to natural and man-made catastrophes. In 2001, the Army helped after the attacks of 11 September; in 2005, it responded to Hurricane Katrina; and in 2010, it sent troops to help after the catastrophic earthquakes in Haiti on 12 January.