TX-TF1 personnel are trained to the highest standards and are able to mobilize by ground within four hours of an activation and six hours if they travel by military or commercial aircraft. With a state of the art equipment cache, TX-TF1 is able to be self-sufficient for the first 72 hours of operation. In addition, they are able function for up to 14 days during an incident with some outside support.
TX-TF1 has a number of different capabilities regarding the response aspect of a disaster. Below is a list of the capabilities of TX-TF1.
Urban Search & Rescue
Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) deployments may occur within the State of Texas at the request of the State or within the United States at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) US&R System. During US&R deployments, teams provide search, rescue, medical, and technical capabilities, as well as a wide variety of services dependent upon the event. Causes for entrapment may include a number of different events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and terrorist activities.
Wide Area Search
A wide area search deployment involves responders conducting searches of a wide area due to natural disasters or man-made incidents. During this type of deployment, the search area will be a mix of different types of geography, such as urban, rural, and wilderness.
Water Rescue
Water Rescue deployments occur at the request of the State of Texas or through request from other states. Teams may respond in floodwater or swiftwater conditions to rescue, evacuate, or conduct welfare checks in response to heavy rains, severe weather, flash flooding, river flooding, hurricanes, or melting snow. Teams utilize rafts, flat bottom boats, inflatable rigid boats, or High Profile Vehicles (HPVs) to complete their mission.
Helicopter Rescue
If a water rescue is time critical or cannot be accomplished by land or boat, TX-TF1 utilizes their partnerships with Texas Military Department (TMD) or the Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS) in order to provide helicopter search and rescue resources to accomplish this mission by air. During a Helicopter rescue event, TMD provides helicopters and flight crew, while TX-TF1 provides rescue swimmers or rescue personnel to assist during a rescue. Helicopter Rescue deployments occur at the request of the State of Texas or through request from other states. Teams may also be used for reconnaissance or surveying of affected areas.
Mission Ready Packages
The MRPs are designed to provide very specific capabilities as a stand-alone resource or as additional support and/or augmentation of a needed capability to resources already operating at an incident or event. MRP examples include a Search Team, Canine Teams, or Liaison Officers.
