Van AFAD teams go through challenging exercises for international accreditation

Van Provincial Disaster and Emergency (AFAD) Directorate teams are carrying out challenging exercises to successfully complete the examination process initiated in the city by the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) under the umbrella of the United Nations.

AFAD Provincial Directorate teams, which race against time to respond to possible disasters in the city as soon as possible and improve their incident response competencies through training and drills, continue their work to obtain accreditation on an international basis.

In this context, the team of 76 people, who have been preparing for the INSARAG exam for about a year, is going through difficult stages in the INSARAG Defined National Accreditation (IRNAP/ITUAS) exam process, which started in Van and will continue until September 18.

In the drill carried out within the scope of the exam held in the area in Tuşba district, the teams, who were notified of a major earthquake as per the scenario, took the necessary materials and went to the region.

The teams quickly deployed to the disaster area and carried out activities such as search and rescue, casualty transportation, and tent setup within the scope of the duties assigned to them.

Experts from Ankara and Istanbul followed the drill, which featured realistic images, and evaluated the teams' knowledge, skills, coordination and intervention capabilities.

If the exam to be completed at the end of the exercises to be carried out in different areas is completed successfully, Van AFAD Provincial Directorate teams will be entitled to receive internationally valid accreditation.

"Our exam process has started"

AFAD Provincial Director Mehmet Ulutaş told the AA correspondent that they participated in the exam in order to be accredited on a national basis within the scope of the INSARAG structure under the umbrella of the United Nations.

Stating that the Ankara and Istanbul teams were accredited by successfully completing the exam, Ulutaş said, "In this process, we started the IRNAP exam process within INSARAG in our province so that the remaining AFAD directorates of the Istanbul and Ankara teams can be included in this system. Our 36-hour drill and exam process, in which transfer to the scene, deployment, coordination of the work at the scene, communication and all the work to be carried out in that region will be evaluated, has started." he said.

Stating that they participated in the exam as Van AFAD with a team of 76 people, Ulutaş emphasized that this process is important for all search and rescue directorates on a national basis to pass this exam system.

Explaining that if they successfully complete the exam, they will be able to intervene in disasters that may occur internationally, Ulutaş said, "When our Istanbul teams arrived at the incident site in the last earthquake that took place in Venezuela, our teams in the exam process in Ankara also supported them. When a task like this occurs in the future, we, as the Van team, will also be involved in that process and take part in those tasks." he said.

"We are checking whether the relevant articles in the guide are fulfilled."

Afyonkarahisar Search and Rescue Unit Manager Ramazan Yerli stated that he previously served as a proxy at the Ankara Search and Rescue Unit Directorate and that he was the team leader of the internationally classified "Ankara Tur 02" team in this process.

Underlining that AFAD has two heavily classified international teams, Yerli said, "Our teams in Istanbul and Ankara Provincial Disaster and Emergency Directorate are at the international level. Apart from that, we subject the remaining 9 search and rescue unit directorates to classification processes to increase equipment, equipment, material and personnel capacity at the national level. We came here 2 days ago. Yesterday, we carried out the paperwork and document reviews, and today we started the 36-hour field classification process as of the morning." he said.

Stating that the exam will continue for 36 hours, Yerli said, "During the exam process, we receive news of a disaster from another province or country and monitor the implementation of the national standard practices that need to be done for this. We have a classification guide for this. We check whether the relevant items in the guide are fulfilled." he said.