BEAUFORT, S.C. - In an emergency the first responders are local agencies, but when they need help, they call the South Carolina Emergency Response Task Force (SCERTF). If those resources are not enough then they call the National Guard. The Vigilant Guard 2008 exercise April 21 - 24 in Beaufort, S.C. was developed to test this capability.
"Our search and rescue is similar to the National Guard, but we go a little farther," said Daniel McManus, the assistant state fire marshal for the Division of Fire and Life Safety, from Columbia, S.C. "We bridge the gap between local and federal responders."
The SCERTF organization has 87,000 pieces of rescue equipment and can be ready to be air-lifted in six hours.
"The National Guard has given us transportation capabilities that weren't possible before," said McManus.
"Our organization and the National Guard are both state assets," said McManus. "We both do the same work, it's what we do opposite that makes use a good partnership."
One of those differences is that SCERTF also has a K-9 search unit that has dogs trained to detect live human scent.
"The dog will circle by all of the rescuers in the area and get familiar with their scent," said Duane Brock, a K-9 search specialist with SCERTF. "Then the dogs smell for the ones (people's scents) they can't see."
"It's mainly a game to them," said Brock. "Whenever they find a scent we give them a toy."
McManus said that they are learning from the deployment and staying at the site for many days. He also said feels fortunate to have the opportunity to train along side the National Guard because it improves communication and logistic challenges.
"Complacency is our worst enemy," said McManus. "It is invaluable experience to get the team out and familiar with the deployment process."