International rescue team formed

Less than eight months after last year's devastating earthquake, the Taipei City Government yesterday formally unveiled its own international-standard rescue team to provide Taiwan with better disaster response capability, marking a first for the city and the country.

Dressed in a bright orange rescue outfit identical to that worn by rescue team members, Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said the launch of the new team was a big step forward for Taiwan's preparedness efforts.

"We witnessed an outstanding performance by the 38 international rescue teams from 21 countries after the 921 earthquake. We hope disasters don't occur, but we have to be fully prepared at all times," he said at yesterday's training ceremony at the municipal fire department's Neihu training center.

Team members from the Taipei City Urban Search and Rescue Squad (台北市搜救隊) will serve as seed trainers for future regional rescue teams in the city and across the country when they return from training overseas.

They will leave for the US to embark on a six-week program at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in mid-June -- part of a 12-week intensive domestic and overseas training program.

Upon completion of the training, the team is expected to be able to respond to any domestic emergency situation within six hours and to international disasters within 24 hours.

"Responding to overseas calls can strengthen relations with other countries and give our rescuers broader experience," Ma said. "Although drills can be made to appear very realistic, nothing can compare with the experience of learning from actual disasters," he said.

During yesterday's ceremony, the team demonstrated 12 different disaster response skills using various types of rescue equipment, such as life detectors, imaging devices and an automatic rock crusher.

Financing for the new disaster response unit was made possible with a NT$28 million municipal budget and another NT$70 million in public donations collected by the media in the wake of last year's earthquake.

The team consists of 64 members, 56 of which participated in rescue efforts at the Tunghsin Building, the only building that collapsed in the city during the 921 earthquake. Other members include four medical doctors and four civil engineers, all of whom must pass five rigid screening tests before they are officially recruited.

The team's deputy captain, Yang Chao-yuan (楊朝元), said continued training is of the utmost importance for them.

"Practice makes perfect," said Yang, who also participated in the Tunghsin rescue effort last September.