Canadian SAR Team to NOLA
A specialized urban search and rescue team from Vancouver will be joining the rescue efforts in Louisiana in the wake of hurricane Katrina.
B.C. Solicitor General John Les said the province decided to send Vancouver Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) after officials in Louisiana asked for help.
"We're the first non-U.S.-based team to be requested," said Les. "They're going to be helping as many people as they can."
CTV Vancouver has learned that the team will board a plane Wednesday night heading to Lafayette, Louisiana, where local authorities will direct them to devastated areas.
Tim Armstrong, USAR's task force leader, said he's spoken with Louisiana authorities.
"The last conversation that I had with them, they're in a bit of a crisis management mode trying to figure out where the need for teams is, and where the resources are going to be best used," he said.
The 45- person team -- which was dispatched to Southeast Asia after the Boxing Day tsunami -- is equipped to provide emergency room doctors, building engineers and swift water rescue personnel.
