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Lawmakers hear appeal to provide recurring funding for Vermont Urban Search and Rescue team
Summary
Fire chiefs and mutual-aid leaders told the Senate Appropriations Committee that Vermont's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team lacks a stable operating budget and adequate facilities, urging recurring appropriations to sustain deployments that rescued more than 267 people in the past 18 months.
David DiBiase, identified in the hearing as the fire chief for the City of Virginia and second vice president of the Vermont State Firefighters Association, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 28 that Vermont's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team needs recurring state funding to continue operations and upgrade facilities.
The USAR team is roughly 90 members strong and includes firefighters, EMTs, doctors, engineers, and canine handlers, DiBiase said. The program currently has one full-time staff member on the state payroll through the Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety; most members are part-time and activate for deployments, training and mutual aid. DiBiase said the team conducted about 20 deployments in a typical year and that over 267 Vermonters were rescued by the USAR team during the last 18 months.
Why it matters: Committee members were told the team fills capabilities Vermont does not otherwise have at the state level ' high-angle rope rescue, swift-water response, structural collapse…
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