FEMA USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) Shortcomings

The FEMA Urban Search and Rescue or USAR teams are made up of individuals that specialize in search and rescue, disaster recovery and emergency triage and medicine.  They are typically deployed to assist people during and after natural disasters.  Last year thousands of highly-trained USAR team members literally spent more time waiting around than actually saving people, making it a model for waste and underutilization.

Details of the FEMA USAR Underutilization

There are 28 USAR teams across the U. S.  According to the article, all 28 teams were deployed for Hurricane Harvey, 22 for Irma, and 12 for Maria. That degree of deployment is certainly impressive, yet many of these teams were extremely underutilized.  Last year, over 6,000 of these specialized personnel were deployed to areas ravaged by the hurricanes.  Even though the teams saved or assisted nearly 9,000 people, the effort cost over $90 million!

So, what’s going on here?  In my opinion, it seems like the entire operation is plagued by poor communication and coordination protocols.  The teams suffer from constantly changing assignments, and workers often drive hundreds or even thousands of miles only to wait around without being activated.  In addition, the system is bogged down by bureaucracy and inefficient or outdated emergency processes.

Some teams were utilized more than others, such as the team in Texas that coordinated what is thought to have been the largest “people moving” operation in decades after last summer’s hurricanes.  But the underutilization is demoralizing to the team members and a bad use of taxpayer money.

My only hope is that FEMA takes the time to look at what happened and how to incorporate lessons learned for future USAR deployments of this important resource.