Volunteers attend joint exercise in Italy

A small team of Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) technicians represented Serve On last weekend at an international disaster response training exercise based in Soverato, Italy.

Planned and led by search and rescue organisation Gruppo Edelweiss, the exercise formed part of Serve On's ongoing work efforts to achieve International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) accreditation, a commitment which ultimately leads to United Nations recognition.

The exercise was attended by around 15 international teams alongside Italian civil and military rescue assets.

It was designed to share skills and foster collaboration, and confirm that the teams work to internationally recognised standards - proving teams can operate swiftly and effectively in high pressure conditions and break down languages barriers.

This is essential for life saving during natural disasters, such as the earthquake that devastated Turkiye and Syria in 2023, a crisis Serve On responded to.

During the scenarios Serve On operated with Bombaderios Peniche from Portugal, Croce Rossa Italiana, Epomea from Greece, the Italian Police search dog team and the Hungarian Reformed Church Aid Search & Rescue team.

The technically challenging scenarios were exacerbated by local temperatures reaching more than 30 degrees and the steep, rocky terrain.

Scenarios included a complex rescue of a casualty from the bottom of a deep natural gorge using rope rescue techniques, a collapsed structure search in confined spaces using live scenting dogs, breaching and breaking techniques and rapid casualty extraction.

Teams also used drones to assess the extent of disaster impact to prioritise and organise rescue efforts, and took on a simulated aircraft crash involving casualties and a helicopter drop-off of the Italian dog unit on tough terrain.

This proved great training for the Serve On volunteers, who were happy to demonstrate specialist knowledge to other teams as much as they learned from others.

Some new techniques learnt will taken away and trialed at the next UK training session.

As ever, downtime provided an opportunity to socialise and form strong bonds with all the teams who were warm and welcoming.

With many invites and plans to train with our international colleagues, we look forward to seeing them again very soon.