A medical and Urban Search and Rescue EU MODEX took place from 26-31 January in Lisbon, and the Vale do Tejo, Portugal. The exercise simulated the response to an 8.5 RT earthquake and tsunami which took place off the coast of Lusitânia (the fictional country that participants were based in for the following four days), on the morning of 25 January.
Scenario and needs
Participants were informed of the reported scenario statistics on arrival, including 50,000 people injured, 10,000 deaths, 2,500 missing, and 50,000 evacuated. The President of Lusitânia declared a state of emergency, directing all possible resources to reduce the impact of the event and to carry out rescue operations.
National forces were activated, and the President announced the activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) requesting search and rescue capabilities, Emergency Medical Teams (Type 1 and 2) as well as Structural Assessment Capacities and Shelter Capacities. The Lusitânia authorities also requested receive operational/technical support, namely for the reception and delivery of international assistance (RDC).
EU MODEX in numbers
The UCPM response during the MODEX is a huge exercise in coordination, between the EU Commission (DG ECHO), Lot 3 Consortium members (led by Johanniter), and the strong support of the local authorities (including the National Republican Guard (GNR), National institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) and Portuguese National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC)).
Representatives from Germany, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands (whose heavy search and rescue capacity was recertified by INSARAG during the exercise) took part. An EU Civil Protection team (EUCPT) and Technical Assistance and Support team (TAST) also joined the exercise, in order to facilitate incoming assistance. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and World Health Organization (WHO) were also represented.
The exercise took over nine months to plan and was the result of strong cooperation between the consortium and the Portuguese authorities. Over 1,200 participants took part in total, making it one of the largest ever EU MODEX exercises to take place.
Sites for the MODEX exercise included the Reception and Departure Centre at Setúbal, Fogueteiro Village, Almada Hospital, Harbour and lift, and abandoned passenger ferries at Setúbal, which provided the backdrop for a heavy search and rescue exercise.
On Tuesday, Michala Matuella, Director of the European Emergency Response Coordination Centre, (DG ECHO, European Commission) joined the visit, together with Dominik Stillhart (Deputy Director General of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Head of Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit), and senior representatives from the Portuguese Government.
Exercise aims
The objectives of this EU MODEX exercise were fourfold; to test quality requirements for UCPM deployments (in areas including cooperation, communication and reporting, and safety and security), to provide a learning opportunity for the civil protection community, to facilitate the certification process (eg on INSARAG, or the EU Civil Protection Pool) and to continuously improve the EU MODEX exercise platform.
‘We train together so that when a disaster happens, we can contribute together’
'Look after each other and stay safe'!
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