Considered one of the leading search and rescue experts in the world, Mr. Doug Copp, the Executive Director,
founded Earthquake Protection and Rescue of California (EPRC) after the
1985 Mexico City earthquake. At world disasters EPRC simply became known as `The
American Rescue Team'. With time and growth, EPRC adopted the name and is
now known worldwide as The American Rescue Team International or ARTI
According to OSHA a Rescuer has a 60%
chance of getting killed by entering one collapsed building. Mr. Copp has done
that 700+ times....more than anyone in history. From wading through
crocodile infested rivers to get to disaster sites in Central America, working a
landslide which the British and Swiss declined as too complicated and too
dangerous, being chased down the road by a tornado, and having three buildings
completely collapsed on him, Doug Copp's years of experiences speak for
themselves.
The Team has worked most of the major
disasters in the world during the past 11 years and in 1996 working closely with
the Canadian group, The Environmental Emergency Response System, began to
increase its response capabilities to include other types of disasters.
Since its inception and inauguration by
fire at the Mexico City earthquake, the American Rescue Team now has thousands
of supportive members and over 200 operational members, worldwide.
In Germany, in May, 1993, Mr. Copp,
representing ARTI, attended a closed NATO/CIDA conference on the establishment
of civil defense organizations for the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe.
The twenty-five participants included 15 Ministers of Civil Defense, 6 military
advisors and 4 others.
ARTI organized a worldwide conference on
disaster mitigation and response in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in September, 1993.
Doug Copp was the conference chair.
ARTI has given over 60 lectures and
conferences and continues to do so worldwide.
ARTI has created unique equipment and
applied available demolition resources in some unusually creative ways. A
primary example is the use of a "sputnik" to extend the effective
reach of a backhoe to four stories which was particularly effective in safely
stabilizing landslides.
Mr. Copp invented the Copp Life Locator,
an electronic device for use in disasters, which reduces the time for locating
victims from days to minutes. This device has been studied by several scientific
bodies with positive results as detailed in formal scientific reports and video
records. The Canadian Government and the United States State Department paid for
these studies.
The activities of ARTI have been reported
in several hundred newspapers and magazines including USA Today, Chicago
Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, London Daily Telegraph, Engineering News
Record, Discovery Magazine, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Tokyo
Shimbun, Associated Press, Gross-Unftadter Zeitung and Personnel News, and
Chinese, Hong Kong, Korean, and Philippino newspapers.
On an annual basis ARTI's activities are
seen by between fifty to seventy million TV viewers via ABC, BBC, CBC,
CNN, CBS, ITN, NBC, PBS, Telemundo, Telenoticias, plus the Greek, Korean,
Japanese, French and Chinese television networks.
Some significant shows would be: Good
Morning America, World News Tonight, Inside Edition, MacNeil Lehrer News Hour,
Associated Press Print & Television, and the Voice of America and National
Public Radio.
Recently Mr. Copp was invited to lecture
to representatives from 26 countries at the Soviet Academy of Sciences, under
the joint auspices of the USSR and the United Nations.
Over the years, the Team's activities
have resulted in meeting 3 Presidents, an invitation to meet a Prime Minister
and 3 meetings with top level diplomats at The United Nations Headquarters.
To date ARTI has produced 5 training
films which are being distributed in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.
The Mexican Admiralty is using ARTI's
Urban Heavy Rescue Training film produced in conjunction with Steve Anthess, of
Apple Computer Television, to train Naval Officers throughout Mexico. Admiral
Fernando Meixueiro has been a strong team supporter for years and has worked
closely with ARTI on many occasions.
For the last 5 years ARTI has been the
only American team acceptable to many countries in times of disasters. On four
separate occasions the US Government offered assistance and were refused while
ARTI was accepted.
Mr. Copp is a Canadian/American citizen
and is the author of the Copp Resolution. This Resolution is to be presented on
the floor of the United Nations by the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United
Nations in an effort to de-politicise rescue and so that rescue teams shall not
be prevented from saving lives. This resolution will save many thousands of
lives every year.
ARTI signed the first International
Agreement between Rescue Teams to work together at world disasters to save
lives. More and more teams from around the world are requesting agreements and
acceptance by the American Rescue Team International.
Background Information