Annual calls 283,572 (2015) Stations 68 Founded 1935 Rescue vehicles 54 Battalion 14 | Established 1935 Staffing Career Number of employees 2,500 Platforms in use 2 Truck 20 | |
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Profiles |
The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department (MDFR) provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the unincorporated parts of Miami-Dade County, Florida along with 30 municipalities located within the county. In all the department is responsible for 1,883 square miles (4,880 km2) of land.
Contents
Air Rescue
The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) Air Rescue Bureau provides regional air medical services, search and rescue, aerial firefighting and tactical support to MDFR operations, to those of local municipalities and government agencies at the state and federal level.
MDFR helicopters transport severely injured trauma patients to state approved Level I trauma centers. Flight crews are trained in additional tactical disciplines necessary to deploy personnel and equipment in search and rescue missions, firefighting operations and reconnaissance on large incidents such as wildland fires and catastrophic events.
Current Fleet
Air Rescue operates four Bell Helicopter 412s (BH 412 EPs). Each aircraft is equipped with the following:
During the dry season, each aircraft can be configured with a Bambi Bucket for firefighting / water-operations.
All four helicopter are housed at MDFR fire stations located at both Miami Executive Airport and Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport.
Urban Search And Rescue (USAR)
The Miami-Dade Fire Department is the founding member of one of Florida's two FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. Florida Task Force 1 (FL-TF1) is available to respond to natural or man-made disasters around the county and world and assist with search and rescue, medical support, damage assessment and communications.
History
In the early 1980s two fire departments, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (at that time known as Metro-Dade Fire Rescue) and the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, operated under an agreement with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the U.S. State Department to provide international search and rescue assistance in times of disaster. During these early years, assistance was provided to the countries of Mexico, Philippines and Soviet Armenia.
In 1991, FEMA incorporated a US&R team concept into a federal response plan. Over 20 teams were geographically chosen throughout the country, with local public safety departments as sponsoring agencies. Today, under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) there are 28 national task forces staffed and equipped to provide 24-hour search and rescue operations following earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and other natural or human-caused disasters.
Responses
Stations and Apparatus
The MDFR has 68 stations split up in 14 battalions.