New Mexico Urban Search and Rescue team trains for the worst

BEACH. NINE-ELEVEN... HURRICANE KATRINA... THE MINNEAPOLIS BRIDGE COLLAPSE. DISASTERS LIKE T...  More »

BEACH. NINE-ELEVEN... HURRICANE KATRINA... THE MINNEAPOLIS BRIDGE COLLAPSE. DISASTERS LIKE THESE HAPPEN WITH ALMOST NO WARNING. THAT'S WHY TEAMS LIKE THE NEW MEXICO URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE EXIST. AND AS ANTOINETTE ANTONIO REPORTS... RIGHT NOW THEY'RE GETTING THEMSELVES READY FOR THE WORST. EVENTS LIKE NINE- ELEVEN ARE SOMETHING YOU CAN'T PREPARE FOR. BUT THE NEW MEXICO URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TASK FORCE IS TRYING. THE TEAM WAS THERE DIGGING THROUGH THE RUBBLE AND TWISTED METAL... RIGHT AFTER A PLANE CRASHED INTO THE PENTAGON. NATS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS NEW MEMBERS OF THE TASK FORCE ARE PREPARING FOR THE NEXT DISASTER. 'we're talking a building collapse with heavy reinforced concrete or we're talking like a bridge being on top of cars.' USING TORCHES THAT BURN AS HOT AT 2-THOUSAND DEGREES, TASK FORCE MEMBERS ARE LEARNING HOW TO CUT THROUGH METAL. NATS THEY'RE ALSO PRACTICING LIFTING 35-HUNDRED POUND SLABS OF CEMENT -- SIMULATING WHAT THEY WOULD DO IF THEY HAD TO GET SOMEONE OUT OF A COLLAPSED BUILDING. 'if we have a building collapse and people are involved, we've gotta be able to go in and do a lot of the moving of floors and walls and those kinds of things to get people out.'AND DON'T THINK IT'S AS SIMPLE AS BRINGING IN A CRANE OR SOME OTHER TYPE OF HEAVY EQUIPMENT. IN MANY CASES RESCUE CREWS DEPEND ON LEVERS, WOODEN BLOCKS, AND PHYSICS TO DO THE LIFTING. THAT'S WHAT WAS USED TO GET THIS 26-THOUSAND POUND PILLAR HIGH ENOUGH TO GET A DUMMY VICTIM OUT OF THE CRUSHED CAR. IT'S SOMETHING MEMBERS OF THIS TASK FORCE KNOW THEY CAN DO... THEY JUST HOPE THEY NEVER HAVE TO. ANTOINETTE ANTONIO, EWN4. WHILE THE NEW MEXICO URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM HAS BEEN CALLED OUT TO THE PENTAGON AFTER 9- 11, AND HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA.... THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN CALLED TO HELP OUT WITH A DISASTER RIGHT HERE IN NEW MEXICO. NEW MEXICO IS ONE OF 28 NATIONAL RESPONSE TEAMS.  « Less