China holds international rescue exercise involving 11 countries — ECNS
In Nanning, southern China, a multinational emergency response exercise in urban conditions took place from Friday to Sunday. Rescue teams from 11 countries took part, practicing coordination during complex urban disasters, ECNS reports.
Earthquake scenario
More than 300 rescuers from 21 Chinese and international teams were involved in the exercise. The event was organized by China’s National Fire and Rescue Administration and hosted by the Fire and Rescue Department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Participants included teams from China, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia and Laos, as well as other countries. The exercise scenario involved a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that caused building collapses, road accidents, flooding, urban inundation, as well as situations involving people isolated in hard-to-reach areas or trapped in vehicles.
Under the scenario, international groups were to begin responding after the affected country requested humanitarian assistance.
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Water rescue and technology
The training was conducted in accordance with UN INSARAG guidelines for international search and rescue operations. Participants practiced the entire response process, from team registration and border crossing to joint situation assessment, task allocation, risk assessment and information sharing.
For the first time, the exercise combined earthquake response with water rescue. Teams conducted searches in collapsed structures and confined spaces, mountain rescue operations, road traffic accident response, searches from boats and the evacuation of people.
Underwater robots, quadrupedal firefighting robots and large multipurpose drones were also demonstrated. A senior fire superintendent from Malaysia’s Fire and Rescue Department said that China’s technology and innovations in search and rescue impressed him and expressed hope for further cooperation.
