fire will use during this rescue mission in japan. >> they're excited to be able to help the people of japan. they know that if it happened here in l.a. that the international community would be helping us. >> reporter: the 74-person team is made up of doctors, building experts, and firefighters. there are also six k-9 teams trained to search. the team has experienced covering other international disasters. >> and it will be similar possibly of the operation between -- like katrina, where we were doing water rescues, similar to possible haiti, with collapsed buildings, with survivors possibly trapped, and also what we just did in new zealand. >> reporter: the team could be gone for three weeks at a time. which means they have to pack all the necessities, food, clothing and comfort items to last the entire mission. >> most all of us carry baby wipes, believe it or not. it can either be a quick rinse, a shower -- >> reporter: they've seen the images, they know the challenges. it's the desire to help that