Urban Search and Rescue training (USAR) – Banja Luka
In the period from 03.07. to 10.07.2021. in the area of Banja Luka, training for search and rescue in ruins will be held for members of the rescue unit in ruins from the Civil Protection Administration of the Republic of Srpska. Members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republika Srpska are also observers at the training
The main goal is to train members of the Civil Protection Administration of the Republic of Srpska to participate in search and rescue operations for victims after a devastating earthquake, landslide and other situations in which it is necessary to use equipment and techniques for rescuing from the ruins.
The training is expected to be attended over 30 members of the ruins rescue unit from the Civil Protection Administration of the Republic of Srpska. From the Civil Protection Directorate, the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, 7 people will participate in the capacity of instructors and trainers (teaching associates). Instructors and trainees will demonstrate to the participants the methods and techniques used in search and rescue from ruins, in accordance with the valid Training Program for search and rescue in ruins in the Republic of Croatia.
On 03. and 04.07.2021. preparations for the implementation of practical training for rescue and search in ruins in urban areas began, at the location in Banja Luka. The scenario involves training for victim recue from the ruins. Given the specificity of the tasks at the location, all protection measures are implemented for participants and observers, while maintaining the most realistic state of natural and other disasters.
On behalf of the consortium partners of the Civil Protection Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, the participants of the training were greeted and wished a successful training by the President of the Association for Risk Management.
Field and practical rescue exercises will begin on the 05.07.2021. Locations are presumed and prepared ruins, which will enable members of the Civil Protection Administration of the Republic of Srpska to practically enrich its experiences from the European Union, through the USAR training module.
On the 06th of July 2021 at the location of the Banja Luka area, the practical part of the rescue exercise from the ruins began. This training has participants, 36 members of the Civil Protection Administration of the Republic of Srpska, 8 members of the Gendarmerie of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Srpska, along with 7 instructors from the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia. Members of the Association for Risk Management are also on site to support the conduct of the exercise.
On the 07.07.2021. the practical training of USAR in Banja Luka continued. On that occasion, the location was visited by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska, Mr. Radovan Višković, accompanied by the Director of the Civil Protection Administration of the Republic of Srpska, Mr. Milan Novitović, who jointly visited the locations of the exercise and gave their full support to the Government of the Republic of Srpska and the Civil Protection Administration of the Republic of Srpska to the activities carried out at the location as part of the USAR exercise. As a reminder, in emergency situations, the Commander of the Republic Civil Protection Staff of the Republic of Srpska is the Prime Minister of the RS, and the Chief of this Staff is the Director of the Civil Protection Administration of the RS. Information from the field was transmitted by news and media houses from the territory of Republic of Srpska.
In the operational sense of the training, members of the Civil Protection Administration of Republic of Srpska, the Gendarmerie of the Ministry of Interior of Republic of Srpska, along with instructors from the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia, continued rescue training from the ruins.
The exercises were extended to the use of rescue equipment from the ruins, where members of the operational forces demonstrated previously acquired rescue skills, in addition to the knowledge and skills acquired at the current USAR training in Banja Luka. Exercises have also begun on rescuing injured people and from the floors of collapsed buildings.
Members of the Association for Risk Management are also on site to support the smooth conduct of the exercise.
The exercises also use official search dogs, which are an indispensable help to rescuers, when searching for people trapped in dilapidated buildings, after the collapse of buildings.
The exercise is being conducted at the location of the Incel Industrial Zone in Banja Luka, on a field that has been adapted and prepared for conducting search and rescue exercises from the ruins.
