Nearly 150 of America’s premier search-and-rescue specialists arrived today in Japan en route to a coastal fishing village devastated by Friday’s earthquake. The personnel from two teams, one based in California and the other in Virginia, plan to bus rescue personnel to the village early Monday morning. Other teams from around the world are arriving to help in the relief effort.
So as not to be an additional burden on Japan, the team is self-sustaining for 10 days, and by that time, additional re-supplies should be following from the States. Medical doctors and paramedics are in tow, to treat the injuries and get the victims to the proper medical authorities either a local hospital or possibly a portable field hospital.
Japan’s hour of need also prompted a show of Chinese goodwill as officials, setting aside the acrimony over Japan’s wartime atrocities and a recent territorial dispute, expressed their camaraderie and sent search and rescue workers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that “More than 200,000 people have been moved to relief shelters as rescue efforts have accelerated, with tens of thousands of personnel from Japan’s self-defense forces, police and fire departments deployed to severely affected areas, while rescue workers are arriving from countries such as Singapore and Russia.”