TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — "It's always hard. It's no different than what we do in the fire department. Often, we're there at people's worst times," said Jarvis Bedford.
The Florida Urban Search and Rescue Team is on standby to head to south Florida to help once Ian passes through.
The federal disaster response team is one of 8 in the state who has special training to deal with catastrophic events. Battalion Chief Jarvis Bedford feels the hard work is worth it.
"We train, we take a lot of pride in it. Our guys have prepared, we prepare throughout the year for these types of events," said Bedford.
Leon County's Emergency Management Team is also officering their expertise is planning, coordinating, and response efforts for distressed areas. Director Kevin Peters said that this is a task within itself.
"Well the worst part of any disaster situation is the time away from your family," said Peters.
The EMS preps for deployment calls throughout the year. Director Kevin Peters feels that the job can be difficult especially seeing all of the devastation but enjoys lending a hand and helping restore communities.
"To know that we can come to a community and help out. That we can bring our expertise in and share lessons learned from our experiences from here in Leon County," said Peters.
