Topic: Amid the chaos and destruction of Hurricane Harvey, Texas Task Force 1 (TX-TF1) deployed to Texas coastal communities to perform search and rescue missions as well as swift-water and airborne rescue operations in response to the historic Category 4 storm. Our simplified mission is to always be ready to respond at a moment’s notice, to do the most good for the most people in the least amount of time. Comprised of more than 600 volunteers representing 70 organizations throughout Texas, TX-TF1 is based in College Station and sponsored by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX). TX-TF1 is one of 28 federal teams under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s National Search and Rescue System.
An important part of maintaining rapid response readiness is the task force members’ commitment to attending training classes and exercises throughout the year at the 52-acre training facility known as Disaster City, a mock community outfitted with full-scale, collapsible structures that simulate disaster and wreckage that can be customized depending on the training class for emergency response professionals. Chief Saunders’ presentation will explain the task force personnel, recruitment and retention, training requirements and annual training plan.
Our Speaker: Jeff Saunders has over 30 years in emergency services; starting as a seasonal fire fighter. He worked as a structural firefighter in New Mexico with Santa Fe County Fire Department, including six years as a District Chief and five years as Assistant Chief
of Operations. As the Operations Chief, he implemented and managed the county wide technical rescue team. He was active with New Mexico Task Force 1, serving as a Rescue Specialist, Heavy Rigging Specialist, and Task
Force Leader. From 2004 to 2015 Jeff was the TX-TF1 Operations Chief coordinating US&R response and readiness including structural collapse, overhead, and flood and swift-water mitigation. Currently as the TX-TF1 Director he coordinates and facilitates the catastrophic search and rescue requirements for the State of Texas.
Food: We will be serving BBQ brisket and sausage.
This program maps to ATD's Foundational Competency: Knowledge Management. Visit https://www.td.org/Certification/Competency-Model.
