On Tuesday, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, the lead federal coordinator of U.S. international disaster response efforts, activated the Los Angeles County Fire Dept.’s Urban Search and Rescue Team, known internationally as USA-2, to deploy to Mexico and assist with the aftermath of a 7.1 magnitude earthquake.   

USA-2 will deploy to Mexico as part of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), an elite team of disaster response experts who lead the U.S. government’s efforts to large-scale disasters overseas. USAID has deployed urban search and rescue teams, including USA-2, approximately 16 times since 1988, most recently for the 2015 Nepal earthquake and 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

USA-2 is a specially trained and equipped Urban Search and Rescue Task Force comprising Los Angeles County Fire Dept. firefighters and paramedics, rescue specialists, emergency room physicians, structural engineers, heavy equipment specialists, canine search dogs and handlers, hazardous materials technicians, communications specialists and logistics specialists.

This unique technical rescue team responds with 55,000 pounds of prepackaged search and rescue tools and medical equipment to conduct around-the-clock search and rescue operations at domestic and international disasters, both natural and man-made.