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| History of UKFSSAR |
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| Historically, the British Fire Service has been responding to disasters overseas for a number of years. In the Mexico City (1985) and El Salvador (1986) earthquakes, a team from the London Fire Brigade were sent with thermal imaging cameras. In Armenia in December 1988, teams including London, Kent and Hampshire responded on search & rescue missions. These efforts were not coordinated and action depended upon individual brigades. |
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| Following the UK response to assist the Kurdish population in northern Iraq (1991), as a consequence of the Gulf War, the then Minister for Overseas Development, Lynda Chalker, announced a new initiative designed to improve the effectiveness of any future British relief effort. This was to be achieved by introducing additional measures to provide: |
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a rapid assessment of the requirements in a disaster situation |
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co-ordination of the British Government relief effort |
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the creation and deployment of skilled teams |
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| A steering group of Chief Fire Officers was set up, under the chair of one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Fire Services, with the objectives of developing a co-ordinated British Fire Service response to overseas disasters. The steering group developed the protocols & guidelines under which teams would be utilised or mobilised. |
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| Item 13 of Dear Chief Officer Letter 9/1992 sets out the full arrangements for the UKFSSAR Team. |
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| History |
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| In 1996 and again in 1997, the Team sent personnel to the Caribbean island of Montserrat in response to an appeal for help following the sudden increase in volcanic activity and the subsequent threat to life and property on the island. The task for both missions was to train and equip a search and rescue unit formed from members of the island's emergency services. |
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| Conditions on the island, and dust and ash from the Soufrere Hills volcano made work difficult and hazardous. However, close co-operation between the UKFSSART personnel and DFID (Department for International Development) staff meant that both missions were very successful. This was proved in 1997 when, following a huge eruption, the local search & rescue teams rescued over 30 people and recovered 20 bodies from areas of the island struck by pyroclastic flows from the volcano. |
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