LACFD: USAR Team member describes Haiti response

First responder describes Haiti aftermath
By Douglas Morino

Jasmine Segura and her dog Cadillac just returned from Haiti where they were part of the LA Co Search and Rescue efforts after the earthquake. She shared their experiences with Alta Vista Elementary School students in Redondo Beach. Photo credit: Brad Graverson

First responder Jasmine Segura implored students at Alta Vista Elementary School on Wednesday to be thankful for what they have as she recounted her experience searching for victims of Haiti's massive earthquake.

Segura and her partner Cadillac, a 5-year-old black labrador retriever, were part of a 71-member squad deployed to Haiti from the Los Angeles County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue Team. They were among the first rescue crews to arrive.

"Their homes are collapsed pieces of rock," Segura told the students. "It's just rubble there. They need to rebuild from the ground up."

As Segura spoke to the children in the school's cafeteria, Cadillac sat perched on a lunch bench, his eyes fixated on his partner.

"He's my shadow," Segura said.

The two have worked together for three years and were in Haiti for 17 days, searching for victims through massive blocks of broken concrete. Together, Segura and Cadillac helped save the lives of several people, including a 31-year-old woman pinned to a mattress under 50 feet of concrete.

"He had to work through a lot of distractions - dead bodies, stray dogs," Segura said of Cadillac, who searches for victims using his strong sense of smell.

The partners were among a crew of six other K-9 units deployed from the county Fire Department to find still-breathing victims of the magnitude-7 earthquake that struck on Jan. 12. The official death toll stands at 270,000.

Segura told students she received a call about the quake while taking her son, Justice, a fifth-grader at Alta


Segura and Cadillac conducted about 30 searches. Segura described the scene after a student asked what her reaction was to seeing dead bodies in the streets.

"People are walking around, holding lemon peels under their noses to get rid of the smell," Segura said.

Students said learning about the destruction changed their perspective on life.

"They're in a worse position than we are," Kaylee Vega, 10, said of the victims. "We should be grateful for what we have."

Segura's presentation came just days after the school capped a fundraising drive for earthquake victims, raising more than $3,000 and collecting 2,000 pairs of shoes.

Their effort is among many conducted by schools across the South Bay. At Redondo Union High School, students raised $5,500 this week for shelter and survival equipment to send to the island nation.

As she prepared to conduct a training exercise with Cadillac on the school's field, Segura offered students some advice based on what she brought home from the trip:

"If you treat your neighbor right, those good acts will be passed forward," she said. "Be aware of what you have here and how lucky you are to have it."

Source: www.dailybreeze.com Article Link
Author: douglas.morino@dailybreeze.com