The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has organized teams of specialists including engineers who can respond quickly to disasters such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and terrorist attacks. A number of Wright Engineers’ staff have been among the volunteer structural specialists on the Las Vegas FEMA response team, Nevada Task Force One. Structural specialist volunteers have provided engineering assistance at such sites as the World Trade Center disaster in 2001 and the 2005 hurricane ravaged areas of the Gulf Coast.
FEMA response teams are prepared to be deployed to the scene of a disaster within one day and immediately assist the local disaster relief and rescue efforts. The role of the structural specialist is to inspect and monitor structures for conditions that could endanger the rescuers and victims.