LA Sheriff's Dept. Sends Rescuers

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's department sent a helicopter team today to the Gulf Coast to assist in the rescue and recovery of the hurricane-ravaged area.

The five-member air rescue crew of pilots and support personnel left Long Beach Airport early this morning for the two-to-three day journey by air to Louisiana, said Deputy Luis Castro.

So far, about 15 sheriff's department personnel will be assisting in the efforts, said Sgt. Paul Patterson.

Several deputies are driving supplies out to Gulf Coast today, he said. They include air and ground search-and-rescue teams, paramedics and deputies with skills in scuba and water rescue, Patterson said. Another crew will be flying out tomorrow from Van Nuys Airport, he added.

More sheriff's personnel may be sent to the region if requested by the state's Office of Emergency Management, he said.

"We're constantly in communication to see what we can send," Patterson said.

The sheriff's department is the latest Southland agency to send help to the Gulf Coast.

Over the last week, crews from Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties have traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi to help in the efforts.

The OES is coordinating the various agencies deployed as the requests are made by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Statewide, 112 firefighters and lifeguards representing eight swift water rescue teams, 640 members of eight urban search and rescue task forces, 23 incident support team managers, three OES assistant fire chiefs and 105 members of three disaster medical assistance teams have been sent to the region, according to the OES.

More than 600 adults and children have been rescued by crews from California, according to the OES.

Among the deployed are 70 members of the Los Angeles City Fire Department's Urban Search and Rescue Task Force and a 14-member swift water rescue team, plus 10 support staff.

Another 75 Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel and 85 from Orange County traveled cross-country last Wednesday to the Southeast. The convoy included rescue dogs.

And an 80-member team of emergency services specialists from various government agencies in San Diego set off for Mississippi last Tuesday in a fleet of buses and trucks, hauling tons of search-and-rescue equipment. The personnel include firefighters, medical technicians, hazardous-materials handlers and structural engineers from Chula Vista, El Cajon, La Mesa, Oceanside, Riverside and San Diego.

In San Diego about 300 soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 185th Army of the California National Guard were deployed to New Orleans on a 10-day deployment on Saturday.

The San Diego-based U.S. Navy aircraft fleet headed out Thursday to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. to support the efforts.

According to the OES, some of the crews are based out of St. Louis Bay, Miss. at the John C. Stennis Space Center and others are at a staging area at Gulfport City Hall in Gulfport, Miss.

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