ARF Disaster Relief Exercise (DiREx) 2013 Field Training Exercise (FTX) Report

Transcription

1 ARF Disaster Relief Exercise (DiREx) 2013 Field Training Exercise (FTX) Report Organization of the FTX: The main exercise control and coordination body was the Emergency Operation Center (EOC), which worked closely with the Civil-Military Operation Center (CMOC), ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) and the On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC). The EOC included the Exercise Command Group (ECG). Daily meetings were held at the EOC to discuss and plan the operations in accordance with the prepared scenarios before assigning missions to the teams. Moreover, an Incident Commander (IC) was assigned to each site, who in turn tasked the teams of their missions and was in charge of the overall activities. The coordination bodies of the FTX, namely, the EOC functioned as an overarching coordinating body; the AHA Center coordinating ASEAN civil-military assets; the OSOCC coordinating non-asean civilian assets; and the CMOC coordinating non-asean military assets were set up throughout the ARF DiREx Types of Exercise 1. Building Collapse (Naresuan Camp) Participating countries were divided into four groups: Singapore and Thailand; Belgium and Malaysia; the United States of America, Austria and Thailand; the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Brunei, and Brunei Medical Team. The scenario described a situation where rescue team was dispatched to a partially collapsed commercial building. Due to extensive damage, entrance was not visible. It was

2 conditioned that a number of people were trapped inside the collapsed building waiting to be rescued. The basement entrance of the building was covered with debris and partiallycollapsed in a pancake style. After an engineer assessment, it was concluded that in order to get inside, shoring and stabilization were needed for safety of the rescue team. The rescue teams were asked to 1) shut down the damaged area and gather information 2) Search for victims using the rescue dogs and technical search equipments 3) Break concrete 4) Shore and stabilize the structures before entering 5) Cut concrete to rescue the isolated survivor 6) Withdrawal after marking according to the INSARAG Guideline. Each group had four hours to complete the task based on the scenario. If unfinished, the next grouping resumed the mission. SAR techniques utilised were at participating countries' choice. Canines were seen in the scenario working to preliminarily identify the location of the victims. Participating countries were divided into 4 groups. In order to share the rescue skills, knowledge and experience, each group was comprised of heavy team and non-heavy team, providing an optimal setting for non-heavy teams to learn the rescue skills and the operation tactics in accordance with the international standard. The first day of exercise, Singapore, Thai, Belgium and Malaysia participated and the next day USA, Austria, Thai, ROK, Indonesia, Brunei participated 2. Chemical Leakage (Naresuan Camp) Participating countries were Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Brunei Darussalam, China, Indonesia, and Malaysia, which were later divided into groupings. Simulated chemicals used for the exercises were phenol and hydrogen fluoride. The scenario for chemical leakage described a situation where hazardous material leaks occurred after a connecting valve of Phenol storage tank was damaged by an aftershock. Without awareness of the incident, all workers kept on working while considerable quantity of Phenol and Hydrogen Fluoride leaked out on to the sewage, making a possibility of water supply contamination. The rescue teams joining the chemical leakage exercises were asked to 1) Shut down the damaged area and gather information 2) Detect and analyse the hazardous materials 3) Set up the Hot Zone and Warm Zone 4) Rescue and evacuate the workers 5) Set up the decontamination post for decontamination of the contaminated victims 6) Prevent the leakage 7) Measure the extent of contamination 8) Remove the contaminated materials 9) Neutralize the contaminated zone 10) Decontaminate the rescuers and their equipments. Participants were given an opportunity to share experiences and techniques, therefore, all countries were divided into 2 groupings. Each group was comprised of heavy team and non-heavy team, which enabled all members to share the rescue skills, knowledge and experience. ROK, Malaysia, Brunei were group one and China, Thai, Indonesia were group two. Co-hosts conducted chemical response operation only in the morning, owing to the high temperature at the exercise site at midday. Overall, decontamination area was clearly identified and equipped with sufficient specific tools and personnel.

3 3. Rockslide (Jalaprathan Cement Public Company Limited) Thailand, Austria, Belgium, Japan (Medical team) and Singapore were participated in the rockslide exercise. The participants were divided into 2 groupings. Rockslide activities involved SAR, Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), canine (SAR), and medical airlift/air evacuation. Scenarios were designed to depict a situation where a massive rockslide hit a village as an aftermath of earthquake. The situation was set up, in which 7 villages were cut-off by the flood and approximately 300 villagers were missing due to the incident. The victims called for assistance from both civilian and military rescue teams to counter the disaster. The rockslide exercise partakers were asked to 1) Shut down the damaged area 2) Gather information 3) Detect, analyse, and identify potential threat 4) Search for victims with their own equipment 5) Evacuate victims from affected area. The exercises ran daily on a continuous rotation for the 2-days. Special equipment in SAR, together with the conventional SAR tool (canine) were witnessed which overall made a comprehensive exercise. Thai, Austria and Japan Medical team were grouped into one team and Singapore, Belgium and Japan medical team were grouped as another team. The main objectives of the rockslide rescue exercise were to find trapped people and to move them to the safety area. After the victims were transported to the safe zone, they were to be handed over to the medical teams for further treatment. 4. Maritime SAR Operations (Cha-am Beach and Rama IV Camp) Participating countries comprised Thailand, the Republic of Korea, the United States of America, and Indonesia. Exercise comprised of three scenarios; salvage sunk ship and isolated area, and rescue adrift persons from vessel collision and capsizing. The first scenario depicted a situation where a ship was sunk and victims were drifted away into the sea due to tsunami. The sunken ship needed to be salvaged to prevent oil seepages. The second scenario described a situation where a number of victims got isolated in an island where a smoke signal was found by aerial reconnaissance. Rescue boats were to be deployed in order to rescue the victims. After securing the victims, the rescuers were to transfer the victims back to land where medical treatment is prepared. In maritime exercises, the participants were tasked to 1) Gather information 2) Search underwater using sonar 3) Salvage the sunken ship 4) Transfer the rescued survivors to the Medical Post 5) Rescue the victims using boats and helicopters. The HTMS Angthong, a navy ship, was deployed and acted as the maritime operating platform for participants from four countries. The exercise to salvage the sunken ship, which was replaced by a container, lasted for two days. There was a simulation of patient transfer

4 by air and boat to the platform. Medical teams, including Thai Red Cross and MERT were stationed on board and at Cha-am beach respectively, to treat victims with level one injury. 5. Air SAR Operations (Cha-am Beach) Thailand, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore joined Air SAR operations. Four types of drills were carried out as the main components of the air operation, namely Aerial Reconnaissance, Flare Drop, Air Medical Evacuation and Air Drop. The primary objectives of the Air Operation were to enhance the capacity in rapidly deploying the disaster relief assets; ensuring timely delivery of the relief supplies to the remote areas; and securing visibility on the field for the Search and Rescue activities. Three countries participated in the Air Operation where all of prepared missions were carried out as planned. On the first day of FTX, air reconnaissance and the flare drop mission took place. On the following day, the air assets successfully transferred the simulated patients to the referral hospital, as the supply drop mission was continued afterwards. 6. Medical Exercise and Evacuation Camp at Rama VI Camp Cross-cutting the exercise scenarios, Medical teams were stationed at each exercise site to perform level one medical treatment. The seriously injured were evacuated by ambulance and helicopters. Participating countries were Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Austria, Belgium, the United States of America and Japan. Medical teams participated in the exercise were asked to 1) Practice needs assessment 2) Exercise both simulated and real patients treatment as well as other necessary medical activities 3) Exercise multi-national operation in field hospitals, local hospitals or mobile clinics 4) Provide emergency medical care for participants in case of an actual emergency situation 5) Conduct forensic activities. For evacuation camp, participating countries were Thailand and the Republic of Korea. The area was divided into two sections. The first section is the evacuation camp arranged by Thailand where tents were put up by the Thai Red Cross, in collaboration with the IFRC. The area had the capacity to take injured victims. A mobile kitchen was also set up to produce food and a truck was available to produce purified drinking water. An area for teaching the making of basic meals was also available. The second section was the ROK Field hospital and Thai Air Force Field Hospital, where necessary medical equipment and patient beds were available. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and ad hoc operation rooms were also set up. The main mission for field hospitals was to treat the simulated patients transferred from each exercise site and real patients during the exercises.

5 Exercise Schedule 7. FTX Exercise Schedule All the Field Training Exercises were conducted from May 8 to May 9. A combined program with detailed schedule appears as Annex 10. Operating Manual for the FTX 8. SAR operating manual In order to provide detailed information on the FTX, search and rescue working group made an operating manual. The manual was posted on the ARF DiREx 2013 Official website. The operating manual is consisted of two parts. In the first part, objectives of the exercise, FTX structure, participating countries and grouping the participants are presented. In the second part, overview, objectives and goals and mission cycle appear. SAR operating manual appears as Annex Medical operating manual Medical working group also made a medical operating manual for the participants and posted it on the web site. Medical operating manual is attached as Annex 12. FTX Demonstration 10. SAR & Chemical Leakage demonstration Thai SAR team carried out the two demonstrations-building Collapse and Chemical Leakage-prior to the closing ceremony. *******************