In the hours and days after the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history, workers scrambled through the mountain of rubble from the collapsed towers of the World Trade Center. The determined mission of rescue and the grim task of recovery of victims were well under way, and search teams needed the right tools to perform their tasks safely and effectively. The New York State Emergency Management Office called the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for onsite assistance. Within 24 hours, a team from NIJ was there to help.