Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

After conducting 11 days of search and rescue operations in Haiti, the members of the city’s emergency rescue team returned home in the morning of January 25.
Mayor Hau Lung-bin presented 11 team members with certificates of gratitude during the press conference following the city administration meeting on January 26. He praised the performance of team members, commending them for successful citizen diplomacy and demonstrating to the international community the City’s resolve in helping friends in need.
Despite missing the 72-hour rescue period, Taipei’s rescue team worked closely with counterparts under the command of the UN. The city’s task force joined the teams from Germany, Hungary, Mexico, the UK, and Iceland in several missions.
In one of the joint operations with rescue workers from the US, team members succeeded in locating vital signals and used specialized tools to rescue seven survivors in the disaster area.
Taipei City Urban Search and Rescue Team (USRT) was founded after a major earthquake devastated Taiwan on September 21, 1999. The team participated in many rescue operations, both in Taiwan and abroad.
For the rescue operations in Haiti, the task force from Taipei comprised USRT members and staff from organizations including the Red Cross Society of the ROC and the military’s medical team.