Urban Search & Rescue

 

THIS MODULE IS NO LONGER ACTIVE WITHIN B-FAST SINCE 2019.

 

A USAR module (Urban Search and Rescue) is made up of about 30 people and is globally deployed to find and free persons trapped inside the wreckage of buildings – in case of earthquakes, explosions and so on. In these situations, every second counts and it therefore is paramount to be able to deploy this module literally as quick as lightning.

The module was made up of specialised members of the fire brigade and of the civil protection service as well as of highly skilled medical staff. These people were trained to save human lives in difficult circumstances (tropical heat, chaos,…) They worked fully autonomously during ten days, day and night, in 12 hour shifts. They used sophisticated cameras and sound equipment as well as disaster search dogs and their handlers.

The Belgian B-FAST USAR-team met the norms and standards the United Nations developed and was awarded in 2010, after an in-depth audit, the quality label INSARAG-certified as a Medium USAR-team.