About
We manage the State Emergency Response Teams.
These teams support and work with the local incident commanders.
The State Emergency Response Teams include:
- Bomb squads
- Hazardous materials response teams
- Minnesota Air Rescue Team (MART)
- An urban search and rescue team (Minnesota Task Force 1)
Request a team
Contact the Minnesota State Duty Officer at 651-649-5451 or 800-422-0798 to request a team's assistance.
What is the cost?
There is no charge for the State Hazardous Materials Teams, Bomb Teams, or MART. MnTF1 and MnTF2 may assess a fee.
More about the teams
Bomb Squads
- There are four bomb squads across the state.
- Bomb squad team members are licensed Minnesota peace officers who are certified hazardous device technicians.
- Teams are equipped with hazardous device robots, portable digital X-ray machines, and containment vessels.
Urban Search and Rescue Teams (Minnesota Task Force 1 and 2)
- Urban search and rescue (USAR) teams can assist with structural collapse, heavy rescue, wide-area search, trench rescue, confined space rescue, rope rescue and advanced medical care.
- MnTF1 includes physicians and medical specialists who can provide medical care and direction in the disaster area. MnTF1 is equipped for 24-hour operations and can work in any disaster area, including those with little or no infrastructure.
- MnTF2 has varied capacities.
Hazardous Materials Response Teams
- There are 11 Chemical Assessment Teams (four of which are also Emergency Response Teams} across Minnesota.
- The teams can help prevent a hazardous release, mitigate a release, and stabilize an incident. They do not provide firefighting capabilities.
- Teams provide local incident commanders with technical support. They deploy with trained responders, specialized equipment and support of other state agencies.
- Hazmat Teams are not allowed to assume overall command of a local incident; they cannot clean up or transport hazardous materials, mitigate explosive devices or clandestine drug labs, or respond to waste abandonment/abandoned barrel calls.
The Minnesota Aviation Rescue Team (MART)
- MART specializes in rescue and extraction of victims from locations that can not be easily reached by ground or water, or pose excessive risk to rescuers.
- MART can assist with searches using visual and thermal images from the air. MART helps public safety agencies across the state maximize victims' safety and minimize risk to responders.
- MART can also be requested through State Patrol Dispatch at 651-582-1500.