Kansas has deployed a Type 1 swift water search and rescue team, Kansas Task Force 1, through the Office of the State Fire Marshal to aid Florida in response to Hurricane Helene. Teams departed from Olathe and Wichita on September 24. The deployment was in response to a request from Florida under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a multistate mutual aid agreement that facilitates interstate disaster response.

The task force, consisting of personnel from several fire departments and medical centers, is equipped with hard-bottom and inflatable boats. Team members come from the Derby Fire Department, Junction City Fire Department, Manhattan Fire Department, Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center, Olathe Fire Department, Sedgwick County Fire District 1, and Wichita Fire Department.

Their mission includes search and rescue operations, providing basic life support, transporting humans and animals, conducting shore- and boat-based water rescues, performing animal rescues, and supporting helicopter and urban search and rescue efforts in water environments.