By Saad Saud
ISLAMABAD—The capital city is all set to have an ‘Urban Search and Rescue (USAR)’ team that will formally become operational after a three-day mock drill scheduled to conclude on Sunday, an official said.
A USAR team from Karachi has reached Islamabad to take part in the search and rescue exercise in which both teams will work together on a simulated scenario of emergency, said Chaudhry Irfan, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
After the drill in Islamabad, which follows the completion of an earlier phase in Karachi, the two teams raised by the NDMA will earn an international certification.
During the ongoing exercise, the teams will operate on a self-sustainable basis. The Swedish Rescue Service Agency, Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) have helped the NDMA in creating these two USAR teams of international standards.
Pakistan is the first country in the region to develop this capacity and these teams are capable of international deployment to assist other countries in disasters.
The teams have undergone an extensive training in the field of search and rescue. High-tech search equipment and a canine component will make them a valuable asset to Pakistan while responding to disasters, especially rescuing people from collapsed structures.
Almost $2 million have been spent on raising each team. They have conducted successful urban search and rescue operations in Karachi and Peshawar even during the training phase. The process to raise a third team in Peshawar is still in the initial stages.
After the completion of this exercise in Islamabad, the NDMA will officially hand over the operational command of the two teams to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad and the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) for deployment as and when required in disasters. Both the CDA and the CDGK will be responsible for maintenance of their respective teams in future.
Pakistan is vulnerable to a variety of natural and humaninduced hazards, including earthquake, floods, urban fires and industrial accidents.These hazards, especially earthquakes, have been wreaking havoc on the residential and commercial structures but the response to these incidents leaves much to be desired due to paucity of search and rescue capability, poor prevention standards and outdated capacity of firefighters.
These shortcomings were painfully noted on the morning of October 8, 2005 when the collapse of the Margalla Towers in Islamabad left the whole country waiting for the arrival of teams from the United Kingdom and Turkey.
islamabad, nov 20: the capital city is all set to have an ‘urban search and rescue (usar)’ team that will for- mally become operational af- ter a three-day mock drill scheduled to conclude on sunday, an official said. a usar team from karachi has reached islamabad to take part in the search and rescue exercise in which both teams will work together on a simu- lated scenario of emergency, said chaudhry irfan, a spokes- man for the national disaster management authority (ndma). after the drill in islamabad, which follows the completion of an earlier phase in karachi, the two teams raised by the ndma will earn an interna- tional certification. during the ongoing exer- cise, the teams will operate on a self-sustainable basis. the swedish rescue service agency, department for international development (dfid) of the united kingdom and the swiss agency for development and cooperation (sdc) have hel- ped the ndma in creating these two usar teams of in- ternational standards. pakistan is the first country in the region to develop this capacity and these teams are capable of international de- ployment to assist other coun- tries in disasters. the teams have undergone an extensive training in the field of search and rescue. high-tech search equipment and a canine component will make them a valuable asset to pakistan while responding to disasters, especially rescuing people from collapsed struc- tures. almost $2 million have been spent on raising each team. they have conducted successful urban search and rescue operations in karachi and peshawar even during the training phase. the process to raise a third team in peshawar is still in the initial stages. after the completion of this exercise in islamabad, the ndma will officially hand over the operational command of the two teams to the capital development authority (cda) in islamabad and the city district government karachi (cdgk) for deployment as and when required in disas- ters. both the cda and the cdgk will be responsible for maintenance of their respec- tive teams in future. pakistan is vulnerable to a variety of natural and human- induced hazards, including earthquake, floods, urban fires and industrial accidents.these hazards, especially earth- quakes, have been wreaking havoc on the residential and commercial structures but the response to these incidents leaves much to be desired due to paucity of search and rescue capability, poor prevention standards and outdated ca- pacity of firefighters. these shortcomings were painfully noted on the morn- ing of october 8, 2005 when the collapse of the margalla towers in islamabad left the whole country waiting for the arrival of teams from the united kingdom and turkey.
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