Provo City

Special Operations


Mountain Rescue Team

 
One of Provo Fire & Rescue's specialty teams is the “Mountain Rescue Team”. The responsibility of this joint Police and Fire rescue team is to respond to areas along Provo’s mountain urban interface to find, help, or rescue people who are experiencing problems.
 
The team is staffed with experienced climbers, paramedics, and those who are trained in backcountry rescue. This team conducts a monthly training day to keep their skills sharp and to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in rescue. The Mountain Rescue Team averages 20 calls per year.  In addition to responses in Provo, the team also works closely with Utah County Search and Rescue.
 
A message from the Mountain Rescue Team is: “Whenever you are planning to enjoy Provo’s outdoors …please let friends or family know when you are leaving, where you are going, and when are you going to return. Please go prepared and last but not least, take your cell phone.”
 
Provo Fire & Rescue teamed with the Provo Police Mountain Rescue to provide ALS (Advanced Life Support) to Provo citizens who are need of rescue. This joint team trains once a month in winter survival, swift water rescue, caving, and high angle rescue.
 

Special Response Team

 
In the summer of 2008 a new concept was formed in Utah County. A joint Special Response Team was formed with members of several departments involved within the county. The Utah Valley Metro Special Response Team was formed primarily with members from Provo Fire/Rescue and Orem Fire Department. This 34 person response team will respond where needed in Provo, Orem, Utah County, or throughout the State when requested.
 
Members of the SRT (Special Response Team) are trained at the awareness, operations, and technician levels in the following five specialized areas: High Angle Rope Rescue, Hazardous Materials, Confined Space, Heavy Extrication, and Structural Collapse. Much of this training is the same as received by the Federal Emergency Management Agencies’ Federal Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces which routinely respond to disaster aid around the world.
 
Training as a Team occurs monthly and is concentrated on one of these disciplines. At least annually, exercises or drills are performed with other agencies to test our capabilities. We train and work closely with local businesses, the Red Cross, and State and Federal Resources to insure our readiness in the event of a disaster.
 
Team members are spread throughout the department on standard duty crews which allows them to bring portions of this specialized training home to their respective stations and increase the overall readiness of the department as a whole.
 
The Team has been able to acquire much technical equipment through grants provided by the Department of Homeland Security. Some of the equipment items include concrete cutting saws and cameras for finding people buried in collapsed buildings. We also have sampling and testing equipment for determining the origin of unknown materials.