Keast & Hood Co. Project Manager and structural engineer, Jon Tung, PE, was recently deployed as part of the international rescue effort following the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.

Tung was part of a 72-person team deployed through the State Department, US Agency for International Development, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. He is a ten-year member of the team and has served on other international missions including earthquake-recovery in Taiwan and Iran and tsunami recovery in Indonesia.

The team rescued 16 individuals. To date, international search and rescue teams rescued 133 individuals.

On Virginia Task Force 1, Tung is a structures specialist whose primary role is providing rapid assessment of the structural integrity of collapsed buildings. He also evaluates the risk of secondary collapses and recommends, designs, and monitors structural hazard mitigation operations such as installation of temporary shoring and limiting access points onto the structure to minimize the risk to rescue operations.

The Haiti Rescue Task Force included search and rescue canines and technical personnel, physicians, paramedics, structural engineers, and support personnel along with 74 tons of rescue equipment and supplies. They deployed on January 13 and returned to the US on January 28.