The days following the 7.4 earthquake in Taiwan are critical for recovery efforts as the shaking made buildings collapse and caused landslides.
Harold Schapelhouman, who headed up the Menlo Park Urban Search and Rescue team for years, said he expects crews to be in rescue mode for at least 10 days before shifting to recovery.
He and his crew worked the gruesome aftermaths of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, among many others.
And he spent time with his crews in Taiwan in 1999, following a massive earthquake.
He also trained some of Taiwan's search teams in the Bay Area. Some of which are working right now in the aftermath of this earthquake.
Schappelhouman gave NBC Bay Area some insight into the minds of the search and rescue teams.
“They'll prioritize where most people will be trapped and potentially injured and the teams will go in there. One thing they did early on, which is really amazing given the fact that roads are blocked -- their system was archaic when we were there -- is they coupled teams with helicopters so they gave them real good mobility quickly so they could helicopter into different parts of the country as small groups of personnel with equipment to effect a rescue,” he said, describing what some of the search and rescue teams are likely going through.
He describes the Taiwan rescue capability as “robust.”
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