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STARR is a 501c3, non-profit, FULLY INSURED, professional team with certified water rescue personnel that strictly follows the guidelines that every professional water rescue team follows – Incident Command System; FIRESCOPE SAR; FEMA Swiftwater Flood Rescue Team Typing; FEMA Typed Resource IMR; FEMA Schedule Rate. Our team is able to deploy resources within 2 hours, check-in with local resources in less than 16 hours of OFFICIAL notification and/or request, and remain self-sufficient for 48 hours (food/water). However, STARR CAN NOT respond to any emergency or disaster WITHOUT OFFICIAL REQUEST authorizing our team to deploy. This protects our organization, maintains accountability / liability, in good standings with the Incident Command System, Continuity of Operation, and ensures the safety of those responding. In the past events, volunteers, with big hearts but little to no training, have self-deployed to areas affected by flooding only to be turned around, in some cases arrested and equipment impounded, or asked to leave by government officials even though calls for help and to 911 overwhelm trained responders. Water rescue is very dangerous even when properly trained, it has many unknown factors / hazards that training helps individuals prepare for, but those who have a boat and “been on the water all their lives” probably never had to deal with the concerns with moving flood waters – until now.

There are several ways to contact STARR and officially request assistance. First, is the person who is in charge of the county/parish such as the Board of Supervisors or Parish President that issues the necessary information in order to respond in order to go through law enforcement barricades/blockades. Second, is for the person in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC)/Emergency Management Office to contact us and issue the necessary documents in order to respond, and of course get through law enforcement barricades/blockades. This can be done thought the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) who will contact STARR, or that of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) contract between the public agency(s) and STARR. This can be accomplished either before, during or after water related emergency/disaster. STARR will provide the agency requesting water rescue resources with a EMAC Mission Ready Package detailing time from N-hour to arrival at Check-in/Staging Area, number of qualified personnel, and etc...

STARR CAN NOT go to a water related emergency/disaster without the necessary authorization/documentation as this can lead us to wasting valuable time, man-power, and/or much needed rescue resources not arriving. 

Lastly, STARR’s executive staff, of trained and educated Emergency Managers, is willing to meet with county/parish leaders to implement their of the describe Memorandums (MOU or MOA) prior to events occurring where our resource can deploy when that water related incident happens.

Below is an example of what we have provided to areas in the past, which briefly lists out the resource STARR had available:

           2 Certified/Qualified Emergency Manager(s)

         12 Certified Water Rescue Personnel with Medical Training

           3 Rescue Jet Skies with GPS (equipped with victim rescue vessels)

           1 18’ Aluminum Boat with 40 hp OB motor / Search light / GPS

           1 14' Inflatable Boat

           1 12’ Inflatable Boat

           1 16’ Rapid Deployment Craft (RDC)

            3 Rescue Boards

           1 6’x14’ Enclosed Equipment Trailer

         28 Victim Rescue PFD’s

         28 Victim Rescue Helmet’s

           2 Victim Rescue Harness

         16 Rescue Throw bags (70’ 3/8 Rope)

         12 200’ Rescue Rope with Bags

           1 600’ Rescue Rope with Bags

                   Steel Locking Carbiners

                   Aluminum Locking Carbiners

                   Breaker Bar

                   Double Pulley’s

                   Single Pulley’s

                   Kootenany Pully’s

                   25’ Webbing

                   20’ Webbing

                   15’ Webbing

                   10’ Webbing

                     5’ Webbing

           Various Programmable Radio’s