Emergency Situations Management Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard of the Ministry of Defense jointly conducted a large-scale fire-rescue exercise in the forest of the village of Gorana, Sagarejo Municipality.
The exercise was attended by Ioseb Chelidze- Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Grigol Giorgadze- Deputy Minister of Defense of Georgia, Teimuraz Mghebrishvili- Head of the Emergency Situations Management Service, Commander of the National Guard, Brigadier General - Roman Jokhadze. The exercise was also attended by the representatives of the diplomatic corps and local self-governments, as well as other high-ranking officials.
The purpose of the field exercise was to provide a detailed analysis of the strong sides and challenges of coordinated work between the parties during emergencies.
According to the pre-elaborated scenario, employees of the Emergency Situations Management Service and the National Guard had to deal with all the challenges related to forest fires. According to the legend, a large-scale forest fires were spreading in several regions of Georgia at the same time, due to which, the Emergency Situations Management Service addressed the National Guard for the assistance in extinguishing another fire near the village of Gorana late at night. Due to the strong wind there was a danger of the fire spreading to the populated area which required prompt response.
The exercise involved a Border Police helicopter of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which performed the tasks of evacuating the injured and fire extinguishing activities.
A total of 180 firefighters and 150 military servicemen participated in the exercise. In addition to the presented personnel, special equipment of both services was involved in the process.
During the training, the primary task of the Emergency Situations Management Service was to extinguish fires in several areas, while the function of the National Guard was to cut special fire-fighting lines, implement evacuation measures, protect the cultural heritage monuments and other additional measures. Fire extinguishing works were monitored by a special field headquarters.
Instructors from the Emergency Situations Management Agency will train National Guard personnel and reserve troops to develop the necessary skills for mobilizing joint forces in case of an emergency.
The exercise was held within the framework of a memorandum of cooperation signed between the two agencies. The memorandum envisages joint measures in the field of civil-military cooperation envisaged by the substantial NATO-Georgia package.
Various events in the field of civil-military cooperation between the Emergency Situations Management Service and the National Guard are planned in the future.
