California Task Force 2 - Honored for Haiti earthquake rescue efforts

L.A. County rescue team honored by governor, friends, families for efforts in Haiti

Los Angeles County firefighter Gary Durian with rescue dog Baxter (Station 30 Cerritos) enter the California Task Force 2 Recognition Ceremony at the L A County Fire Department Headquarters in Los Angeles Feb. 11, 2010. Photo credit: by Leo Jarzomb


LOS ANGELES - When Los Angeles County firefighter-paramedic Mike Jarratt landed in Haiti on the heels of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, he saw what he said looked like a war zone.

"It was sheer devastation, and it was so vast," he said Thursday. "It was a little overwhelming to see everything destroyed."

Industry-based Jarratt and the rest of California Task Force 2 - the county Urban Search and Rescue Team sent to Haiti after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake leveled most of Port-au-Prince - were honored for their efforts Thursday morning.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the county Board of Supervisors, a representative from the U.S. Agency for International Development and an attorney for the nonprofit Yele Haiti Foundation spoke to hundreds of rescuers, their families and friends, gathered at Los Angeles County Fire Headquarters, 1320 N. Eastern Ave.

There are many kinds of heroes, Schwarzenegger told the crowd of about 500.

"But there's nothing like heroes that risk their lives to save other lives," he said. "That is a true action hero, and that's what all of you are."

The task force, made up of urban search-and-rescue personnel, paramedics, search dogs and physicians from area hospitals, was one of eight California teams deployed to the disaster area.

They were mobilized within hours of the quake and were on the ground in Haiti within 36 hours, where they worked for 15 days to rescue people trapped under collapsed
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structures.

Some shared stories that illustrated how badly the Caribbean nation was ravaged by the quake, while others spoke of triumphs when lives were saved.

County Fire Capt. Rick Fullerton, from Whittier Station 28, said the team rescued a 58-year-old woman named Jeanette from a collapsed building, where she had been trapped for six days.

"When she came out, she started singing and the crowd joined in," he said. Her husband and son were present to see her brought out alive, and were so happy they thanked each rescuer individually.

Videos streamed on YouTube showed Haitians cheering as California rescuers pulled people from under rubble, and chanting "USA!"

Overall, Fullerton called his experience in Port-au-Prince "awesome and gruesome, all at the same time."

Dr. Steven Chin, emergency physician and disaster preparedness medical director at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier, said because the earthquake struck during working hours, many people were trapped under fallen buildings.

Finding living people under rubble was like "finding a needle in a haystack," he said.

"One of the challenges was, when a whole neighborhood has collapsed, where do you start looking?" Chin said.

Chin's wife, Debra, described difficulties while her husband was away. The couple's 8-year-old, Hana, broke her wrist four days after Chin's departure while Sara, 11, had a birthday coming her father nearly missed.

"You just kind of have to live with it," Debra Chin said. "But the family support was great. We were OK."

Canine handler and Firefighter Specialist Jasmine Segura, from Hawthorne Station 161, recalled working eight hours to save a 10-year-old from a collapsed school, then having to tell the child's family he had died after finding his body.

"It was really, really tough," she said. But, "it was great to be able to do what we did."

She said she'll use the experience to educate her own children.

"There's a difference between want and need in this world," she said. "When all the media is gone, I hope everyone still works to help the people who still need help, regardless of boundaries."

Death toll estimates vary, but about 200,000 are believed to have died, according to media reports. Hundreds of thousands more were injured while millions were left without shelter. Aid groups struggle to bring in necessary supplies.

"It's one of the worst disasters in modern history and there were so many people affected," said team member and county fire Capt. John Boyle of La Crescenta. "The rescue phase is over, but there's tremendous need still in the country. Millions of people are going to need assistance. The relief phase is ongoing and the reconstruction phase is being planned."

But in their two weeks spent rescuing people from wrecked structures, county Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said the team had made everyone proud.

"We salute you," he said. "You worked long and hard and you saved lives. You were the face of the U.S.A. - a face of caring and kindness. Welcome home."

Source: www.pasadenastarnews.com Article - link
Author: By Bethania Palma Markus, bethania.palma@sgvn.com