Vladimir Puchkov holds a large-scale exercise in Noginsk demonstrating the capabilities of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations
Vladimir Puchkov holds a large-scale exercise in Noginsk demonstrating the capabilities of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations
Vladimir Puchkov holds a large-scale exercise in Noginsk demonstrating the capabilities of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations
The 179th Rescue Centre of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry conducted training exercises on May 24 in Noginsk, Moscow Region, under the direction of the Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief Minister Vladimir Puchkov. The major event was held as part of the Integrated Security International Salon.
Throughout the day, the capabilities and practical application of the forces and means of the Russian Emergencies Ministry in response to possible emergency situations involving rescue following natural disasters and industrial accidents were demonstrated for rescue workers from the CIS and other countries.
Russian rescuers and firefighters worked within the hypothetical situation of an earthquake of up to 9.0 magnitude on the Richter scale. According to the scenario, buildings had been destroyed, hundreds of people trapped beneath rubble, and there were dead and injured people. Foreign colleagues and experts observed how Russian Emergencies Ministry units provided disaster relief in the most variegated of emergency situations – a freight-train derailment, an oil spill, a toxic waste spill, a chemical explosion at a hazardous chemical company, a release of harmful substances into the atmosphere, an aircraft accident, fires of various kinds, and a major traffic accident.
Divisions of the Federal Fire Service, military rescue units and search and rescue services, as well as canine services and volunteer fire protection forces participated in resolving the problems identified in the training’s hypothetical situation. The exercises involved miner rescuers for the first time, and ways were developed to save people buried underground.
The most efficient and modern means available to the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry were used by the rescuers during the exercises. In particular, they utilised the latest Russian development to supply a large volume of water over a distance of ten kilometres – the Shkval pump-bag set, mobile robotic tools and a mobile fire-rescue system, and unmanned aircraft used for monitoring and extinguishing forest fires. Russian Emergency Situations Ministry aviation – Ka-32 and Mi-8 helicopters – was used at almost every stage of the exercises.
Vladimir Puchkov praised the way the rescuers’ and fire-fighters’ exercises and operations were organised.
“The rescuers worked in difficult weather conditions, and completed all the tasks to protect people from fires and emergencies,” he said.
In turn, the Secretary General of the International Civil Defence Organisation Nawaf Al-Sleibi, who was present at the exercises, said that these were some of the best civil preparedness exercises in the world.
“We familiarised ourselves with modern rescue technology that we will be recommending to other countries,” he said.
