FAIRFAX, Va. (WUSA) -- The Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue team is used to responding to disasters wherever they strike. This time is no different. The team has been mobilized for possible deployment to Japan.
Dan Schmidt, spokesperson for the Fairfax County Fire Department, says mobilization means the team prepares for deployment, but it does not necessarily mean it will be deployed.
The Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue team, also known as Virginia Task Force 1, is one of two teams in the nation deployed by USAID to assist countries who have experienced large scale damage due to natural disasters or other causes. The other team is from Los Angeles, California.
Two groups from Fairfax's team were dispatched after Haiti's earthquake in January, 2010. They pulled more than a dozen people from the rubble.
The 74 men and women had only hours to prepare to leave after hearing of the earthquake and tsunami.