JOHNSON COUNTY —Members of the Olathe Fire Department welcomed home a portion of Kansas Task Force 1. The group, including three from Olathe helped in Florida and North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Others in the group were from the Junction City Fire Department, the Kansas Fire Marshall's office and Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center.
The Task Force left Kansas on September 24 from Olathe and Wichita. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management received a request from Florida and the task force was sent as part of an Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which is a multistate, mutual aid agreement that facilitates interstate assistance in response and recovery operations during a disaster.
The team conducted search and rescue operations. Their objective was to Search for and rescue individuals, provide basic life support (BLS) medical care, transport humans and animals to the nearest location for secondary air or land transport, provide shore-based and boat-based water rescue, provide animal rescues, and support helicopter and urban search and rescue in water environments.
In accordance with the EMAC agreement, Kansas will be reimbursed for cost associated with the deployment.