DAYTON, Ohio — From a building collapse to a car crash, first responders are putting their skills to the test for 24 hours.  

What You Need To Know

  • A team of first responder volunteers that make up Ohio Task Force One are training for major disasters 

  • It's the first large-scale event they've been able to train for since the pandemic hit two years ago 

  • First responders said they've had to use their skills in the recent Kentucky tornadoes earlier this year, and as far back as the 9/11 disaster

In a matter of minutes, a disaster can turn whole cities into collapsed buildings with people trapped inside. It’s Heather Ferguson's job to find them. Her dog is trained to find human remains. 

They're part of a volunteer rescue team that is training to respond to major disasters like the ones they’ve been to before. 

“We were at Surfside (Florida) last July, and then we were at the tornadoes in Kentucky,” said Ferguson.

“It was very humbling and very emotional, seeing the families and the loss they experience, for me, it’s very rewarding and fills my heart with love from the perspective of my ability the families and the victims be recovered,” said Ferguson.

She’s not alone. Dozens of volunteer first responders, who make up Ohio Task Force One, have been training in the rubble at the Dayton training center for 24 hours straight. 

Mike Muhl, a rescue team manager, said that’s exactly how long they’d be working in a real major disaster. 

“A task force when it has the ability could hit the ground and they call it a blitz where they hit the ground and work 24 hours straight,” said Muhl.

He said he knows firsthand. 

“I was part of 9/11 response for the World Trade Center collapse, and that was what we did when we hit the World Trade Center, we drove through the night, we drove 13 hours and then we went to work right away on the pile, so most of us were up for 36 hours before we got to bed,” said Muhl.

It's something they hope they won’t ever have to do again, but want to be ready for just in case.