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Overview

As a pioneer in urban search and rescue, TEEX offers customized training to groups of emergency responders from across the nation and the world. TEEX’s mission is to provide the highest level of life-saving efforts to the citizens of Texas and beyond from organized urban search and rescue efforts.

Following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, TEEX leadership became acutely aware that a similar event could take place within Texas. This led to the establishment of the renowned Texas Task Force 1, one of 28 national urban search and rescue teams under the Federal Emergency Management Agency and one of six designated to respond to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction.

In addition to its response mission through Texas Task Force 1, TEEX founded the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC) in 1998. NERRTC, which is part of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, was established by Congress to prepare state and local officials and emergency first responders to respond to terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, including those involving weapons of mass destruction.

TEEX offers search and rescue training in the following specialized areas:
• Structural Collapse Courses
• Advanced Structural Collapse Courses
• Technical Search Specialist Courses
• Canine Search Specialist Courses
• Swiftwater Rescue Courses
• Position-Specific Training

Disaster City®
Search and rescue training is conducted at the world-renowned Disaster City®, a $7.7 million, 52-acre facility that has been designed to deliver the full array of skills and techniques needed by today’s emergency response professionals. The miniature city features specially designed collapsible structures that replicate a wide array of infrastructure found in every community. Students who come to TEEX will have the opportunity to use a series of full-scale work stations that provide hands-on opportunities for specific skill development.

Training sites at Disaster City®:
• Strip Mall Collapse
• Office Complex Collapse
• Passenger Train Derailment
• Tunneling System
• Rubble Pile

Texas Task Force 1
Emphasizing locating and extricating victims trapped in collapsed structures, confined spaces, or trenches in largely populated areas, Texas Task Force 1 is capable of responding to state and national disasters including earthquakes, hurricanes, widespread tornadoes and man-made technological and terrorist events.

Comprised of 210 emergency services personnel from approximately 50 organizations and departments across the state, Texas Task Force 1 is the only urban search and rescue team in Texas. Texas Task Force 1 is divided into three teams, each of which has five components: a command structure, and rescue, medical, technical and search groups, including a canine search team.

Estimated at a cost of $2 million, the Texas Task Force 1 cache includes more than 12,000 items and weighs in excess of 45,000 pounds. The specialized equipment includes hydraulic jacks, rams, shoring, high-tech listening devices, hazardous material monitoring equipment, specialized victim location devices, breaching, breaking and lifting equipment, and specialized medical and triage equipment. Designated to be logistically self-sufficient for the first 72 hours of operation, Texas Task Force 1 is able to function for up to 10 days and has a six-hour deployment window.

Related Links
National Emergency Response & Rescue Training Center
Urban Search & Rescue
Weapons of Mass Destruction, Civil Support Teams

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