From the pain and suffering of disaster comes the compassion that is our driving force and the force behind our international, cooperative rescue movement.

Response systems in most major disasters, such as an earthquake, will be overwhelmed and tenuous, at best. The size, shape, and timing with which the rescue system deploys and evolves are critical to the reduction of loss of life and environmental damage in a given event. "Bias of choice" interactions and non-actions by government organizations supposed to handle a major disaster will and do kill people.

As globalization continues, a new tool is emerging as a means of rapidly responding to major disasters world wide.

The Environmental Emergency Response Service (TEERS) is an international, non-profit, humanitarian, all-hazard, rescue organization having cooperative response agreements with other NGHO''s in more than fourteen countries.

The cost of bureaucratic response to large scale, multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional emergencies has soared off the top of the charts. We are volunteers and receive nofunding from any government agencies. We are, by necessity, cost effective and efficient. In major disasters the control structure for emergency response must function in a bottom-up manner not the top down. People bleed at the site of the disaster, not in the offices of well meaning officials who have never performed a rescue. Regulations and over regulation, licensing, permitting and bureaucratic "bias of choice" and their corresponding systems, cost lives during a major disaster.

Our on-line system is run, and contributed to, by an international team of Emergency Response professionals. Each is highly skilled in their respective fields.

TEERS is a pro-active organization. During major disasters we provide Rapid Response Teams. In environmental areas, such as land, sea or air pollution, we do not protest the problems. We use our maximum resources to rectify the situation and clean up the problem. In the second phase, we work closely with source of the pollution to find solutions that prevent re-occurrence. Public involvement and participation as the eyes and ears of TEERS is important to our effectiveness.

What you won''t find here is a lot of activism. We do not campaign as many environmental organizations are prone to doing. TEERS-canada and TEERS-international teams, with public support and assistance to identify a problem, do their best to correct the situation by doing rather than by just campaigning or generating media dialogue.

What you will find here is people who care and factual information on the environment, on man-made and natural disasters and much more. You will find information areas that could save your life during a disaster of any type. You will find information that will help us all to reduce the damage done to our planet by man-made and natural disasters. You will find contacts and resources to help you and your community make a positive change in your area and thus to our global environment.