New York City’s elite Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR) New York Task Force-1 members are assisting with the rescue of stranded civilians who have become trapped due to rising, rapidly flowing flood waters from Hurricane Matthew. Each member has received 50 hours of extensive swiftwater rescue training, as highlighted in the video seen here. All members who participate in swiftwater rescues are certified to both operational and technical levels, in addition to being certified Rescue Boat Opera

This past Tuesday, members of FDNY’s Rescue Operations, HazMat Operations, the Rebreather Task Force, and EMS Special Operations joined forces with the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force Marines for a Rebreather Drill in the East New York Tunnel. The drill depicted an explosion in a heavily trafficked automobile tunnel that runs parallel to a train tunnel where both entrances to the tunnel collapsed, and rescuers must gain access in order to search for and remove victims. “Things are gr