A task force of professional fire and rescue personnel, doctors, dog-handlers and others has received a rare certification from the United Nations, according to the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.
Virginia Task Force 1, an urban search and rescue team that responds to natural and man-made disasters at home and abroad, was certified at both “medium” and “heavy” response levels by a U.N. team after completing a set of field exercises on Thursday. It is the only such task force in the country to receive the designation, according to the department.
“The benefit for the county and the residents is we’re better trained and we’re better equipped to handle emergencies here at home,” said Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department spokesman Dan Schmidt.
The certification allows the team to be called up by the United States Agency for International Development to deploy for overseas missions, Schmidt said. The task force just wrapped up a three-day training session that simulated a terrorist bomb attack.
