Two-day training of civil protection units within the EMBER project

Within the “Ever Moving Border Emergency Response – EMBER” project, which is financially supported by the European Union through the IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme between Croatia and Serbia, a two-day exercise of the civil protection units of Šid and Sremska Mitrovica have been held, because these two municipalities were exposed to the floods that hit Serbia and the neighbouring countries in May 2014.

The objectives of the exercise, held in Šid on 1^st and 2^nd June, were to practice the rescuers’ skills, synchronize the work of a number of rescue teams and provide education on water safety. It was held by the representatives of the Mountain Rescue Service of Serbia, whose rescuers intervene on average in over 50 rescue actions in all parts of our country annually.

Within the framework of the exercise, the members of the general civil protection units of the Municipality of Šid and the City of Sremska Mitrovica learned how to assess the security on the scene of an accident and the condition of injured persons and to provide first aid. Moreover, the rescuers of the Mountain Rescue Service of Serbia presented the basic rescue philosophy, as well as the hydrological and other phenomena typical in situations when a settled place was hit by floods. During the practical part of the exercise, the rescue skills characteristic for actions during floods, like drawing out people from shallow water and conditioned rescue, i.e. adding of a floating rope to victims in water, were practiced. A significant part of the exercise related to the provision of first aid when members of the civil protection are trained to control bleeding, check injured persons, reanimate and treat injuries of the osseous joint system. The rescue exercises demonstrated in cases of flooding can save the lives of citizens in flood-affected areas.

The EMBER project has resulted from the cooperation between the institutions from Vojvodina and Vukovar-Srijem County. On behalf of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, the partners in the project are the Secretariat of the Provincial Government, European Affairs Fund of Vojvodina and Provincial Secretariat for Economy and Tourism. The importance of the project was recognized by the municipality of Šid and Sremska Mitrovica, which are actively participating in its implementation. Moreover, relevant stakeholders of the profession participating in the project are provincial public enterprises, the PWMC “Vode Vojvodine” and PE “Vojvodinašume”, as well as the Red Cross of Vojvodina that participates in flood protection and care of citizens in emergency situations.