vieWTerra Evolution

DRIVER+

Un evento para evaluar de forma sistemática soluciones para necesidades actuales y emergentes. Permite que los profesionales de gestión de crisis puedan realizar esta evaluación de acuerdo con un enfoque práctico y sistemático.

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Austria was organised by the Austrian Red Cross (ARC) together with the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT).

It was conducted as a multi-day field exercise under the framework (and in parallel) of a Large Scale European Civil Protection exercise in Eisenerz, Austria.

THE SCENARIO: A HEAVY EARTHQUAKE IN THE LOCAL REGION OF EISENERZ

The central area of Austria has been struck by a heavy earthquake and subsequent heavy rains.

The local region of Eisenerz (in Styria, Austria) is one of the most affected with missing persons, casualties, collapsed buildings, blocked roads, and endangered industries working with hazardous substances.

Inhabitants have left their houses being afraid of aftershocks and collapsing of buildings. They have to spend the next days outdoors due to the lack of temporary shelter and blocked roads.

Similarly, there is a disruption of lifelines such as water, food, shelter, transportation and medical care. Electricity and mobile networks are severely damaged.

All local and national emergency response organizations have been deployed on site (Austrian Red Cross, fire brigades, police and the army); however, due to the extension of the affected area and overwhelmed national response capacities, the union civil protection mechanism was activated. A request of international assistants was activated with regards to medical treatment, water purification as well as search and rescue.

Due to the difficulty to access the affected area and considering the impact of the disaster, there is an urgent need for humanitarian assistance and assessment.

A large amount of volunteers and rescue equipment is needed to deal with the increasing number of affected people i.e. search and rescue, shelter, medical care, water food and transportation.

Additionally, there is also an urgent need for the management of spontaneous volunteers.

THE ACTORS INVOLVED

The scenario requires a commitment of stakeholders from different

Condición inestable que implica un cambio inminente, brusco o notable que requiere atención y medidas urgentes para proteger la vida, los recursos, la propiedad o el medioambiente.
 

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management levels and from all the agencies participating in the response:

• Austrian Red Cross
• Austrian Fire Brigades
• Police
• Army
• Decision makers and authorities

Other emergency response organizations from neighbouring countries were expected to participate following the procedures from the union civil protection mechanism (UCPM). The exercise was also serve as testing environment for introduction and establishment of standard operating procedures (SOPs), standards and concepts, of the UCPM within central European region.

Actions were taken by the stakeholders in a realistic information environment, based on currently available means, crisis management plans, rescue procedures and good practices of participants

The Final Demonstration (Final Demo) was the last

Un evento para evaluar de forma sistemática soluciones para necesidades actuales y emergentes. Permite que los profesionales de gestión de crisis puedan realizar esta evaluación de acuerdo con un enfoque práctico y sistemático.

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, concluding the series of DRIVER+ Trials. It also provided an opportunity to showcase the main outcomes of the Project.

The event had been tailored to the needs of the main End-User – the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) – and was conducted in accordance with the project’s methodology. The ERCC, situated in Brussels, was created in 2001, following the European Parliament Decision on Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). It is the highest

Condición inestable que implica un cambio inminente, brusco o notable que requiere atención y medidas urgentes para proteger la vida, los recursos, la propiedad o el medioambiente.
 

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Management coordination body in the European Union. The primary aim of the UCPM is to strengthen cooperation between Participating States – Members States and others affiliated in the UCPM – in the field of civil protection, in order to respond to disasters as effectively and synergistically as possible. Since 2001, the UCPM has been activated over 300 times and each year the number of activations is growing. New innovative solutions, improving the realisation of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism tasks, are continually being sought.

The ERCC monitors the situation from Brussels and has an expert support group deployed on the ground called the European Union Civil Protection Coordination Team (EUCPT). The main role of the EUCPT is to coordinate activities in the field by liaising between the UCPM Modules and the Local Emergency Management Authority (of the country stricken by a disaster), in order to provide a common understanding of the needs and to ensure a relevant and timely response.

The Final Demo addressed the communication aspects between the UCPM components, mainly the ERCC, the EUCPT and the Modules, which are sent to the country in crisis by states affiliated within the scope of the UCPM. The main areas addressed were:

• reporting on the operational activities from the field to the ERCC;
• information exchange among Team Leaders of the Modules, and the EUCPT;
• geo-information support for situation assessment and decision-making for Team Leaders of the Modules and the EUCPT.

GAP 1

Shortcomings in interoperability in the ability to exchange crisis-related information among agencies and organisation.

GAP 2

Lack of a “Common Operational Picture” to integrate data sources and calculation results from different models crucial for the decision making process.

GAP 3

Limitations in the ability to merge and synthetise disparate data sources and models (e.g. historic events, spreading models, tactical situation, critical assets map) in (near) real time to support decision making.

FINAL DEMO SCENARIO

MAJOR FOREST FIRE- EUCPM ACTIVATION

The fictional country Driverstan, situated outside the European Union but relatively close, is a democratic republic, however, is not yet as fully developed as the EU countries – it is lacking solid Crisis Management structures, a stable economy and a strong civil society. The scenario of the Final Demo focused on largescale forest fires in a rural area with potential developments, causing a complex humanitarian crisis.

Due to high temperatures and lack of rainfall during recent weeks, the number of forest fires is multiplying in the country. Domestic response capabilities are not sufficient to cope with the fires alone. Driverstan creates a Request for Assistance (RfA) that is shared with the ERCC, EU Member States and affiliated countries. The Union Civil Protection Mechanism was activated and offer of support from different countries was gathered.

The scenario expected to trigger an exchange of information between the ERCC, EUCPT and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The use of the DRIVER+ selected innovative solutions, tested alongside the standard operational procedures of the ERCC, EUPCT and Modules, demonstrated the potential added value of the solutions in such a Crisis Management situation.