UNIPATH STAFF
Dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes, avalanches and mudslides is critical for the Kyrgyz Republic. In 2012, the country experienced 449 official emergencies, more than double the number of incidents dealt with the previous year, according to Mukhammed Svarov, head of the Kyrgyz Republic’s Crisis Management Center for the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
In May 2013, an urban search and rescue training session at the ministry’s Sadovoye National Training Center tested national response plans during a scenario that included responding to a collapsed building. Teams had to shore up the building to ensure they could evacuate the wounded from the rubble. The exercise included members of the U.S. National Guard, as well as Kyrgyz government agencies and nongovernmental organizations — about 300 people.
It was one of the largest joint training exercises between the United States and Kyrgyz Republic and one of the largest tests of the country’s national emergency response plan.
Sources: The Times of Central Asia, azernews.az, U.S. Embassy