| After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005, it became obvious that this was an event with a magnitude unprecedented in North America. The Canadian province of British Columbia offered the assistance of the Vancouver Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team, which was accepted by the State Governor of Louisiana. The deployment of the 45-member team to St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana in the aftermath of the hurricane was studied to present a perspective on the issues involved with the only international deployment of an entire Canadian USAR team. The study reviews the aspects of training, deployment, operations, supply, communication, medicine, team cohesiveness, and interactions with other agencies. The results provide insight into issues surrounding a USAR deployment including multi-skilled teams, flexible equipment caches, preparedness for the conditions, the engaging of local support, transportation, reducing of bureaucracy, communications, proper staffing and delegation of duties, and victim medical needs. The results lead to a better understanding of how the Vancouver USAR and other USAR teams can be utilized more effectively in future disaster response operations. |
