A delegation of US emergency response experts is to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow to conduct a fact-finding review and pass on training information to emergency search-and-rescue teams in the US.
The 18-member delegation, which includes four structural engineers and two search-and-rescue experts, serves in a technical advisory role in urban search-and-rescue missions for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
David Hammond, a structural engineer and lead instructor in the US Army Corps of Engineers, said members from California Task Force 3 will also come to Taiwan to aid in the evaluation of structural safety.
The delegation members will cover their own travel and hotel expenses for the trip to Taiwan, since the main purpose of the trip is primarily educational.
They plan to share the information they obtain with other rescue teams in the US, Hammond said.
A review of the 921 earthquake is expected to offer a point of reference in one FEMA training program to be conducted next May, according to officials at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
Two Chinese-American structural engineers from a private construction company in San Francisco will also be joining the delegation for the three-day visit to Taiwan.
Taiwanese-born engineer Shih Te-wei (施德偉) said that he felt a call to return to his home town to join in the reconstruction of some of the ruined areas of Taiwan.
"Even though I'm not a member of California Task Force 3, I have received some training which I hope will help," Shih said.
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