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Special
Operations
ST.
LOUIS METRO STRIKE TEAM 3
St.
Louis Metro Strike Team 3 is one component of an
area-wide Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) management
force. It is a deployable, fully self-sufficient
team designed to respond to large scale emergencies
with massive destruction and/or complicated technical
rescue needs. Along with other area teams, SLMST
3 is an organized, structured compilation of well
trained and heavily equipped Rescue Technicians from
St. Louis County Fire Districts. Other area
teams include SLMST 1 from St. Charles, SLMST 2 from
St. Louis City and SLMST 4 from Jefferson County and
Eureka.
The
Affton Fire District sponsors 7 Rescue Technicians
currently employed at the District. These Techs
must be trained and remain proficient in multiple high
hazard specialties:
When
a disaster strikes, dispatching agencies alert the
strike teams' leadership and an action plan is
immediately set into motion including the dispatch of
a strike team(s) and placing one or more team on
"stand-by".
SLMST
3 has responded to multiple large incidents including
the Joplin, MO tornado in May of 2011 in which four
Rescue Techs from Affton responded. SLMST 3
performed USAR operations in multiple areas during its
3 day deployment.
Devastation
at the Hampshire Apartment Complex (Hampshire Terrace
and 20th St.)
from the Joplin, MO tornado, May 2011
Each
incident is meticulously documented and events logged
for ongoing evaluations. After an incident is
finished and secured and members are debriefed the
leadership and its members meet to discuss the
incident in a Post Incident Critique. In this
critique members will discuss events that took place,
operations and technical maneuvers, policies and
procedures and a chronological timeline of
events. They then evaluate what worked and what
needs adjustment and prepare recommendations for
policy and procedure changes. The knowledge
gained from these sessions will shape the face of
future incidents.
HAZMAT
The
Affton Fire Protection District has five Hazardous
Materials Technicians who are currently rostered with
the St. Louis County HAZMAT Team. The County
HAZMAT Team is available for any incidents involving
toxic chemical releases, biological and chemical
warfare incidents and threats and unknown chemical or
substance releases. The HAZMAT Techs are also
available for response to meth labs and other possible
drug related incidents where they may work side by
side with police organizations.
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