From March 1 to 5, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted a practical comprehensive training exercise simulating actual search and rescue activities of the Japan Disaster Relief Team (JDR), which is dispatched to large-scale disasters overseas. Under heavy rain and wind, 75 rescue team members selected from all over the country, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, took on the challenge of 48 hours of continuous simulation training at the Hyogo Prefectural Wide-Area Disaster Prevention Center, simulating actual dispatch.
48 hours after arrival in the disaster-stricken country is a critical time, and the first-time meeting of the rescue team members is the best time to search and rescue those in need of rescue.
The rescue members of the JDR Rescue Team are elite members who have been specially trained and selected from police, fire departments, and coast guard agencies throughout Japan, and during normal times they respond to domestic disasters while working hard to improve their rescue techniques at their respective organizations. When a decision is made to dispatch the rescue team to an international disaster, the team members who can respond to the disaster and have experience in JDR training are selected, so many of the rescue team members meet each other for the first time when they gather at the airport.
Comprehensive training will of course be conducted under similar conditions. In the field of disaster relief, the “72-hour barrier” is often mentioned, but since JDR is dispatched to overseas sites, it is highly likely that 24 hours or more will have already passed since the disaster occurred when it arrives in the affected country. The first 48 hours after arrival is the critical time for lifesaving. Comprehensive training for international emergency rescue teams requires not only rescue techniques, but also the strengthening and improvement of overall abilities such as concentration, cohesion, and coordination to carry out rescue activities under such unique and difficult conditions.
A team of professionals who support rescue operations with their specialized skills
The rescue activities of JDR Rescue Teams are not limited to rescue workers alone. In addition to rescue dogs and handlers who quickly find survivors in damaged structures, structural assessment specialists who evaluate the structure of damaged structures to ensure that rescue workers can safely conduct search and rescue activities in the damaged structures, and medical teams who take care of the health of rescue workers, respond to injuries and illnesses, and provide emergency treatment to those in need of rescue, support rescue activities at the disaster site. The medical team supports the rescue activities of the rescue team members at the disaster site.
The structural assessment specialists, who are not often seen in domestic disaster sites, are especially important because they are assigned by the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), an international emergency relief team with “Heavy” level international certification, to assess the capabilities of urban search and rescue operations. The experts are deployed in accordance with the regulations of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), which evaluates the capabilities of urban search and rescue operations. They provide advice on stabilizing buildings at risk of collapse and securing walls and debris to prevent secondary damage during rescue operations. In recent years, there have been calls for the expertise of these structural assessment specialists at disaster sites in Japan, and they play an important role in search and rescue operations.
Responsibility as an international certification team; international coordination skills and collaboration with other teams required
At the base of operations (BoO), a communications team dispatched from the police department supports reliable communication between the two companies deployed to the disaster site and the command headquarters. The operations coordinator supports the team from a logistical standpoint through a wide range of activities, such as transporting personnel and equipment, coordinating with interpreters and drivers, providing accommodation and meals for the team members, gathering information, and procuring necessary supplies. The operations coordinators are experts in international cooperation, consisting of JICA staff and others.
INSARAG expects internationally certified teams to contribute not only to rapid deployment and self-contained activities, but also to a higher level of safety and quality in rescue operations, and coordination between the government of the affected country and international teams. In particular, INSARAG has established a framework for coordination among rescue teams to ensure that rescue teams from other countries that rush to the affected area can operate efficiently and autonomously under effective coordination with the government of the affected country so as not to place a burden on the affected country.
Understanding the need for such international cooperation, the JDR Rescue Team’s comprehensive training includes the dissemination of information about the team from the home country, provision of information about the disaster site, understanding and promptly responding to information from other countries, and participation in the management of the international coordination framework, in order to improve the team members’ abilities in international coordination. The training also includes participation in the management of the International Coordination Framework.
JDR Comprehensive Training is operated with the cooperation of nearly 100 people involved, which is more than the number of members in the team. This training not only supports the improvement of new team members’ abilities by those who have been deployed and trained in the past, but also supports the improvement of the JDR rescue team’s overall capabilities, as people from all over Japan come to the training site as a valuable opportunity to learn more about disaster relief for the next disaster relief.
We will continue to promote efforts to facilitate the return of knowledge and to build teams at an even higher level by applying the lessons learned in JDR training to rescue activities in Japan and by applying the knowledge gained from domestic activities to overseas sites.
Related Links
Sun TV News (published March 3, 2025)
Asahi Shimbun (Published on March 4, 2025)
Comprehensive training in 2023
© Source JICA
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