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Montgomery County rescue crew among FEMA teams trained to respond to building collapse

Members of the Maryland Task Force 1 showcased their tools and training to help find people trapped in rubble.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Crews in the DMV have the personnel and equipment to save people trapped in rubble much like what has happened in Surfside, Florida where a condo collapse killed at least four people and left more than 150 others unaccounted for. 

Known as the Maryland Task Force 1, dozens of members of the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue make up one of 28 urban search and rescue teams in the country supported by FEMA. The group has been operating since the 1990s to help find people buried under rubble or debris following a major catastrophe. 

Chief Scott Goldstein knows what the rescuers from Miami are going through. He assisted after the Oklahoma City bombing and the terrorist attack at the Pentagon. 

The Montgomery County team hasn't been asked to respond to Florida, but other operations in Fairfax and Virginia Beach are on standby.

"They're highly motivated to do this work because it takes a lot of training," Goldstein said. 

The same equipment and training are being utilized in Florida including the use of tractors and trailer filled with rescue gear, search dogs, specially trained engineers and medical physicians. Goldstein if a similar tragedy happened in the DMV, his crew would first deploy a technical rescue vehicle. 

"It has the same basic equipment to break the concrete, to shore the materials to make access to cut through components as well as search devices," Goldstein said. 

RELATED: Death toll in Miami-area building collapse rises to 4; 159 remain missing

Among the tools used is searching equipment that resembles a rod with fish-eye lenses that can easily fit in crevices to find victims. 

Goldstein said the crews in Florida are taking a strategic approach which includes using large cranes to remove the slabs. 

His team has 140 members who train constantly using setups and mock scenarios at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy. 

In the District, a pedestrian bridge collapse injured six people and sent five to the hospital. The incident required mainly local resources.

RELATED: Emergency declared: Miami-area condo collapse; 1 dead, at least 99 unaccounted for

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