Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team

The Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) is an elite team within the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), formed in 1990 to handle complex rescue and fire fighting incidents, such as urban search and rescue; prolonged fire fighting; height and confined space operations; and water rescue.

One of the very specialised vocations in the Singapore Civil Defence Force(SCDF), it is staffed by handpicked firefighters, who are show exceptional skills in Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and very complex firefighting skills. The selection process for Dart is very tideous and only the best trainees pass out from the course for e.g one of the selection requirements is to finish a 2.4km run by 8m 30s.

The team's operations include the training and utilisation of rescue dogs. Robots are also increasingly being utilised to minimise danger faced by Dart personnel and an array of complex rescue equipments which are used for USAR.

International rescue operation
DART members form the bulk of SCDF members dispatched overseas for search and rescue operations.

In October 2005, a 44-member DART team was sent to Pakistan to help in the relief and rescue operations following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. . The Dart were also sent to Bandar Aceh in Indonesia during the Tsunami tragedy which destroyed alomost 150,000 lives. Ever since then, the Dart had received international recognition and are regarded as one of the best USAR teams in the world