International Operating Engineer - Winter 2018

Training & Education
Michigan Operators Team with First Responders
to Simulate Disaster Rescue Missions
Open house highlights Operating Engineers’ nearly 20-year
partnership in disaster response
deployed by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) in the
event of a disaster.
Starting with instruction in rigging,
Local 324 and MUSAR began their
partnership in 1999. MUSAR began
using the facilities in Howell for
training in skills inside and out of
the Operating Engineers specialties.
Today, there is a large section of the
Construction Career Center dedicated
to both MUSAR and First Responder
training to keep the public safe during
natural and man-made disasters.
OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL
324 and their Michigan Urban Search
& Rescue (MUSAR) partners opened
their training facility to more than a
dozen state legislators and local leaders
to demonstrate training exercises
done that prepare first responders for
disaster.
The open house included
demonstrations of a trench rescue,
K-9 rubble search and rescue, building
stabilization with crane operations
and Michigan State Police Bomb
Squad post-blast at the Local’s 555-
acre Construction Careers Center in
Howell, Michigan.
“Operating Engineers do the
important, difficult and dangerous jobs
that keep our state’s economy running
and bravely dedicate their time and
talents to keep us safe both in Michigan
and beyond,” said Lee Graham, Local
324 LMEC executive director. “I’m
proud to have had the opportunity
today to share our nearly 20-year
partnership with MUSAR with local
leaders and lawmakers in Lansing.”
MUSAR was founded in 1991
by municipal first responders from
around Michigan who receive special
training in technical rescue operations.
These volunteer responders are
organized into task forces that can be
Operating Engineers are no
strangers to emergency response.
From rigging and hoisting to heavy
equipment operation, many of the
skills and tools necessary when disaster
strikes, are the things Operators train
and work on daily. This includes
Stationary Engineers as well, whose
knowledge of boilers and large complex
pressure systems, keep us safe daily,
from schools to nuclear power plants.
In the unfortunate event of a disaster,
Operators are often on the front lines of
the response.
In September, Michigan’s Task
Force 1 was deployed to Florida in
the wake of Hurricane Irma, and two
Local 324 Operating Engineers – John
Haberkorn and Derek Sather – were
among the team dispatched. This
was the first out-of-state deployment
for the 45-person Task Force, which
is made up of disaster relief certified
doctors, heavy equipment operators
and structural engineers.
Their skill, expertise and training are
an integral part of this quick response
unit. MUSAR stands out as one of 28
Task Forces organized under FEMA’s
National Urban Search and Rescue
(USAR) Response System. Local 324 is
proud to partner and work with MUSAR
and other Emergency Responder
groups, and looks forward to continued
collaboration to help ensure safety and
fast response in times of trouble.
[article & photos]
Dan McKernan, IUOE Local 324
8
INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER
WINTER 2018 9