TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute an Agreement between the State of California Office of Emergency Services and the City of Long Beach for transfer of Swift Water/Flood Rescue (SF-SAR) cache and related SF-SAR equipment. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
The Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), Fire and Rescue Branch for the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Program, identified a significant need to designate and outfit additional OES Type-1 Swift/Flood Water Rescue (SF-SAR) Teams in California. This was the result of a survey conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers following Hurricane Katrina. The Army Corp concluded that SF-SAR resources should be regionally standardized and response times reduced from six to four hours in a major event. The City of Long Beach was selected as one of these OES sponsored teams to meet this expanded regional statewide coverage. This will also provide a significant Dive Rescue/Reconnaissance capability to the deep sea ports throughout the State.
The Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) has been recognized as the only River Flood Rescue Team (Team) throughout the state, as of this date, to be audited and certified by OES as a "Type 1" team; the highest trained and equipped level for USAR resources. The Long Beach rescue team deployment consists of fourteen members of the LBFD and their equipment. Many other agencies' teams are "Single Typed Resources" which represent only the first tier in the multi-tier deployment model and can be rapidly overwhelmed during an inundation.
The Governor's Office of Homeland Security allocated grant funds to provide for an Agreement to support the Team with supplies and equipment, which includes a specialized Swiftwater vehicle, a 20' trailer with supporting technical equipment cache, two inflatable rescue boats with outboard motors, personal protective equipment for the fourteen members, and a communications cache. The value of this equipment is approximately $300,000.
This rec...
Click here for full text