Cooperation Project on Strengthening the EU s Nordic USAR Modules (EU-NU)

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1 Cooperation Project on Strengthening the EU s Nordic USAR Modules (EU-NU) This Cooperation project on strengthening the EU s Nordic USAR modules has been developed by the Crisis Management Centre Finland (CMC) and Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap (MSB) with the financial contribution of the European Union.

2 Quick Facts Total value of the project: European Commission financial contribution: Implementation period: 01/01/ /06/2016 Duration: 18 months The project was implemented in Finland and Sweden Objectives of the project The EU-NU -project supported and complemented efforts made by Finland and Sweden in the field of Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) in Cold Conditions and thus facilitates reinforced cooperation between the two countries in the field of preparedness in civil protection. The intended step further was to develop USAR activities in the region and to develop a joint Nordic USAR team, a team capable of operating in cold conditions and to share this knowledge wider within the Union Mechanism. The project s secondary objective was to share the Nordic arctic expertise in the field of civil protection. The project disseminated results from previous projects, especially the EU Cold Conditions Module development, to the Participating States through publications and training. The EU-NU project enhanced the awareness of professionals of other civil protection modules in participating states by offering a tactical level training in Lapland to module members of the participating states.

3 Introduction Finland and Sweden have contributed to the development of EU Civil Protection particularly related to EU s capacity to operate in cold conditions. This has been done mainly through trainings and exercises, of which significant part has been co-funded by the European Commission (EU Cold Conditions I & II, EU Coordination Exercise 2014). The outcomes of the development work have been distributed to Union countries through a number of events and publications. The project was a part of the wider strategic aim of Nordic countries to build EU s common capacities of cold conditions in Northern Europe. The project strengthened, in particular, the capacities of a joint Nordic USAR team and built foundations for future action. The project consisted of opening workshops with an aim to seek team-specific strengths and common grounds for a joint Nordic USAR team, as well as to prepare the partners for a joint pre-deployment training. During the training in the simulated field mission, the teams tested their skills and capacities in practice. After the training two workshops for building common Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were organized and the first SOP were distributed to the competent civil protection authorities of Finland and Sweden. Cold Conditions -training in Lapland was be offered to all participating states with a registered TAST module.

4 Training in Kuopio December 2015 In December 2015, the training gathering 100 USAR experts from Sweden and Finland was conducted in Kuopio, at the Emergency Services College training ground. During the training, the experts were provided with theoretical information on building their capacity and preparedness for Nordic cooperation as well as safety procedures. The theoretical knowledge gained was put into practice during the 36 hour simulation exercise. The exercise, which simulated a real field mission, provided the participants a chance to test their capacities and preparedness in joint operations in cold conditions, including camp management, team leading, as well as search and rescue. The simulation exercise was built upon a scenario where a major earth quake shakes Korvaharju mining town in Finland, causing a mine accident, damaging buildings such as a hospital and a shopping centre, and leaving several people trapped inside the mine and the buildings that were about to collapse. As a result of the incident of this scale, Finland requested assistance from Sweden.

5 Training in Sodankylä February 2016 To support the EU Nordic USAR project s secondary aim to share the Nordic expertise in cold conditions search and rescue, the project conducted a training in Sodankylä, Finnish Lapland in cooperation with the Jaeger Brigade. Sodankylä Jaeger Brigade has a long and successful history in conducting cold conditions trainings for international participants and was hence facilitating the training. The aim of the training was to gain understanding on how to protect oneself in cold conditions, move in snow, prepare food as well as maintain and use vehicles in cold climate. The training consisted of theoretical lessons as well as field exercise where the participants trained their survival skills by building a temporary camp and building and maintaining field electric network in a snowy forest. As a part of the field exercise, the participants also evacuated patients by using snow shoes, sledges and ropes. The Cold Conditions -training in Sodankylä was attended by 18 search and rescue experts from 13 different EU Civil Protection Mechanism countries.

6 Standard Operating Procedure Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) are a set of step-by-step instructions to establishment, running and managing rescue operations. The aim is to achieve a predictable, standardized, desired result often within the context of a longer overall process. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) drafting workshop utilized the best practices and lessons learned from the trainings and workshops conducted throughout the project. The aim of the work was to develop a joint Standard Operational Procedure for the future joint Nordic USAR team. The workshops were organized in Sweden in November 2015 and February During the development, the best practices from both participating states were evaluated, as well as the lessons from the trainings organized. The draft proposal was also introduced to the participants of December training, with the aim of testing it and based on the feedback, the final Standard Operating Procedure was completed.

7 Outcomes As a result of this 18-month project, the following outcomes are being achieved: Enhancement of Nordic USAR cooperation and exchange of good practices. Strengthened capacities of a joint Nordic USAR team and foundations for the future action. Dissemination of results from previous projects, especially the EU Cold Conditions Module development. European wide improved knowledge on rescue operations in cold conditions. Improved links between relevant actors both in Nordic countries and European wide throughout the disaster management cycle. The Cooperation Project on Strengthening the EU s Nordic USAR Modules will contribute to the improvement of the Union s ability to efficiently respond of future disasters and crises.

8 CMC Finland P.O. Box Kuopio Finland Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency KARLSTAD Sweden For more information: Facebook: CMC Finland