The international Achilles civil defence exercise began on Sunday for the I.S.A.R. Germany with the gathering of dozens of salvagers, dog handlers and medical rescue teams in Hünxe on the Lower Rhine. The large-scale exercise in Switzerland also serves as a test for the I.S.A.R.'s recertification by the UN.
Before the team set off for Switzerland late in the afternoon in buses and vans, I.S.A.R. President Dr Daniela Lesmeister briefed the participants on the fictitious disaster situation: In the state of Jureneva, a severe quake of magnitude 7.1 had occurred on Sunday morning at 9.36 am. More than a thousand people have already died, and the number is rising. Germany had offered help, which was accepted; the I.S.A.R. had also been requested with a medium-sized team. So much for the assumed starting position as laid down by the UN and the organising Swiss army.
I.S.A.R. is one of only two German teams to be certified by the I.N.S.A.R.A.G. (International Search and Rescue Advisory Group). The certificate must be renewed every five years during a major exercise. This involves the management of international co-operation and the rapid location and rescue of survivors. The I.S.A.R. association, which is financed entirely from donations, is currently undergoing the judgement of the UN auditors for the third time.
The distribution of tasks and procedures - as far as they could be planned - were discussed briefly and precisely on Sunday afternoon, passports and the vaccination status of all those mobilised were checked and personal food rations for the first 30 hours were packed. „Now, with the start of the recertification, the tension is easing for me,“ said I.S.A.R. boss Lesmeister. „The preparation was very time-consuming. And I'm very confident that everything will go smoothly.“
Although there were a number of absences due to illness, it was possible to replenish all teams with replacements so that the full personnel strength for the operation was achieved. Exactly 50 I.S.A.R. personnel took part in the large-scale exercise on Sunday, along with six search dogs.
They include Marie Biermann from Rheda-Wiedenbrück and her rescue dog Ole. The five-and-a-half-year-old Appenzell mountain dog is a well-trained search dog that is specially trained to search for missing persons in rubble. As a quasi-Swiss, Ole wears a medallion with the Swiss coat of arms on his collar - which suits him well for this mission.
Alongside the advance team for assessment and coordination, the team with the rescue dogs is one of the first units to be deployed on Monday morning from the international assembly point, the Swiss military airport in Payerne, to Épeisses, where the exercise is taking place. The exercise site is located south-west of Geneva on the banks of the Rhône, an artificially destroyed village.
From there, the I.S.A.R. Germany press team will report on the progress of the exercise and the results expected on Wednesday in words and pictures from various angles.
Text and photos: Clemens Wortmann
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Marie Biermann and rescue dog team Ole.
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ISAR boss Daniela Lesmeister familiarised the team with the tasks and processes on Sunday afternoon.
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50 team members set off from Hünxe on the Lower Rhine to Èpeisses in Switzerland.
