GPS aids Missouri Task Force 1 during Joplin search efforts

"Our training is geared to search and rescue beyond the capability of local fire departments," [Matt Schofield] said. "Our goal is not to be a drain on the local resources because we already know they are overwhelmed by the incident. So we are self-sufficient and bring everything we need to survive and to support our search-and-research operations." "By the time a big team like US&R or mutual aid is activated statewide, the local resources have done a lot of that initial work, as far as the volume of patients with immediate assistance," he said. "So we come into to do what we call a secondary search."