WASHINGTON — A team of rescue professionals, including members of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team, were deployed to Haiti in response to the recent earthquake that has impacted the country.
Haiti’s government requested assistance from the USAID who has already deployed members of their Urban Search & Rescue Team to join the country's Earthquake Disaster Response Team.
The group of 65 professionals and four search canines include members of the Fairfax County Fire Department. The team will travel to Haiti to join the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team already on the ground.
The rescue squad will travel with at least 52,000 pounds of specialized tools, equipment and medical supplies to assist in search operations and humanitarian needs.
According to the Associated Press, at least 304 people were killed and at least 1,800 we injured after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday, and Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was rushing aid to areas where towns were destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with incoming patients.
The epicenter of the quake was about 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and widespread damage was reported as a tropical storm approached.
So far, rescue workers and bystanders were able to pull many people to safety from the rubble, Haiti's civil protection agency said Saturday afternoon on Twitter. It said injured people were still being brought to hospitals.
Henry declared a one-month state of emergency for the whole country and said he would not ask for international help until the extent of the damages was known. He said some towns were almost completely razed and the government had people in the coastal town of Les Cayes to help plan and coordinate the response.
U.S. President Joe Biden authorized an immediate response and named USAID Administrator Samantha Power as the senior official coordinating the U.S effort to help Haiti. USAID will help to assess the damage and assist in rebuilding, said Biden, who called the United States a “close and enduring friend to the people of Haiti.”
A growing number of countries offered help, including Argentina and Chile, which said it was preparing to send humanitarian aid. ″Once again, Haiti has been hit by adversity,″ Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said.