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Published on 08/25/1999 All articles from this issue

Local search, rescue team stands by for victims of Turkey earthquake

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By Wendy Marinaccio

Special to the Town Crier

Los Altos resident Gail LaRoque and her dog, Torrey, are on standby after the massive 7.4 earthquake in Turkey last week. More than 10,000 died, as of last Friday, and more than 45,000 have been injured, with the count still rising.

LaRoque and Torrey are a federally-certified search-and-rescue team. Top scorers in the testing, they have trained thousands of hours at finding victims in collapsed buildings. They were the first dog-trainer team on-site in 1995 when they participated in the search-and-rescue effort at the bombed Oklahoma City federal building.

Although LaRoque and Torrey aren't in Turkey, other dog/handler teams are - from the East Coast of the United States, Germany and France.

"I can't imagine how they're deciding where to look first (in Turkey)," La Roque said. "We searched for two weeks (in Oklahoma City), and there was just one building."

LaRoque said when checking a building for survivors after an earthquake, the dog initially goes in alone. If the dog finds a survivor, it stays with the victim and barks until help comes. "All the work depends on the dog's response," she said.

LaRoque said there are approximately 20 dog/handler teams in California certified to perform search and rescue in collapsed buildings, and 40-50 total in the United States.

LaRoque and other dog handlers always carry a pager and have an agreement to make themselves available to leave for two weeks, on one hour's notice. "It requires that you live your life on-call," she said. After a disaster like the Turkey earthquake, LaRoque knows she and Torrey could be called at any time to help.

The Turkey disaster, which hit at 3 a.m., Aug. 17 (5 p.m., Aug. 16, PDT) reminds local residents to be prepared for earthquakes. Los Altos is close to several fault lines, including Monte Vista and Hayward faults.

Los Altos resident Tom Cascone, who works as the disaster services coordinator at the Palo Alto Red Cross, said "the more people are able to do for themselves, the better off they are. When the Hayward fault hits, all the normal government agencies (police, fire), are going to be overwhelmed."

"It's really hard to get people to think this could happen here," LaRoque said. She suggested calling the Los Altos Emergency Preparedness Committee, an organization in which Cascone is also involved. "They'll teach you how to prepare," LaRoque said. "If your whole city falls down, you're going to have to cope on your own for a while."

Ann Paull, a local ham radio operator, serves as the city's emergency coordinator. She can activate and coordinate other area hams, who then send information.

The national Red Cross would also help. "With an earthquake of that size in this area, it would automatically trigger a response from our national chapter. They will just start responding because we will be up to our eyeballs," Cascone said.

"Primarily what we do on large earthquakes in other areas is take large donations - it's the easiest way to get the most aid to them," Cascone said. That minimizes shipping costs and bolsters the local economy, he said.

If a 7.4 earthquake happened nearby, Cascone said, "It will be a little different because of our earthquake standards and our building codes. But that magnitude in this area is going to cause a lot of damage."