Governor Laura Kelly announced today that the Kansas Division of Emergency Management received another Emergency Management Assistance Compact request from Florida for a swift water search and rescue task force in preparation for Hurricane Milton’s arrival. Working with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Kansas Task Force 2 was deployed Sunday night to Florida.

Kansas Task Force 2 consists of personnel from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Chanute Fire Department, Cherryvale Fire-Rescue, Johnson County Med-Act, Manhattan Fire Department, Neodesha Fire Department, Salina Fire Department, Shawnee Kansas Fire Department, and Wichita Fire Department.

Their objectives will be to search for and rescue individuals, provide basic life support medical care, transport humans and animals to the nearest location for secondary air or land transport, provide shore-based and boat-based water rescue, provide animal rescues, and support helicopter and urban search and rescue in water environments.