EST-USAR team practicing rescue work with Finnish, Lithuanian colleagues in SE Estonia

TALLINN - The Estonian rescue team EST-USAR is practicing rescue operations at the Metsniku shooting range in the southeastern Valga County until Thursday.

This is an annual 36-hour exercise to keep the skills of EST-USAR members up-to-date. For the first time, Finnish and Lithuanian rescue services are also involved.

During the exercise, unit mobilization, rescue work at collapsed sites and building a base camp will be practiced. This year, colleagues from Finland and Lithuania are also participating, which means activities related to receiving foreign aid will also be practiced. A total of 36 EST-USAR members, 12 Finns and 20 Lithuanians are participating in the exercise.

"The exercise is a great opportunity for EST-USAR members and foreign partners to gain valuable experience. This allows us to complete all phases of a mission from start to finish, from issuing equipment to rescuing casualties from the rubble. We are glad that colleagues from our close neighboring countries are with us this year," Roland Jefremov, adviser at the rescue work bureau of the North rescue center and chief organizer of the exercise, said.

As practical activities, rescuers from the three countries will practice rescuing victims from rubble and providing first aid in cramped conditions, supporting building structures with wooden materials, setting up a base camp and the like.

Exercises are not unusual for EST-USAR. The UN's International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) has mandated that each classified team must undergo an annual exercise in which all phases of a mission are practiced.

In addition to EST-USAR and the rescue services of Lithuania and Finland, the collapse rescue teams of the Tõrva and Valga rescue teams and the Valga County district of the Kaitseliit (Defense League) volunteer corps are also helping.