On 3rd September Latvian Red Cross (LatRC) organized a community based exercise – evacuation training in the LatRC Social Care Centre Sturisi in Laidze, Talsi region. 130 inhabitants who daily live in the centre are mostly elderly people who suffer from dementia, have mental or movement disorders. The training was organized within international project PrepAGE and it involved participation of stakeholders, rescue services, LatRC staff and volunteers.
The participants at the evacuation training were leading representatives of Talsi municipality, rescuers from State Fire and Rescue Service, State Emergency Medical Service, State Forest Service, Latvian State Police, Municipal Police, Latvian National Guard, employees of Security Company “TalComm” and staff and volunteers of LatRC social care centre. Among the observers there were representatives of Ministry of Welfare, Riga Social Welfare department, different social care centres, local inhabitants of the nearby areas, as well as the Estonian Red Cross colleagues.
After the practical part of the training everyone had an opportunity to observe demonstrations of using fire extinguishers and to learn how to give the First Aid. LatRC introduced the audience with its experience within the international project “Aware & Resilient” which aimed at informing the society and ensuring its awareness in order to be ready in case of emergencies and disasters.
The event concluded with an evaluation discussion, when delegates from all included institutions gave their opinions and conclusions on what should be improved in rescue plans, specially related to rescuing seniors and people with special needs. The main goal of this discussion was to come up with recommendations and improvements. The recommendations from each of the partner RC organizations will be put together in order to deliver specific European recommendations.
The aim of the PrepAGE project, which is co-funded by the European Commission’s DG ECHO, is to introduce specific recommendations for older people in emergency and disaster preparedness and prevention programmes. The PrepAGE project is identifying the needs, structures and measures to find out how to prepare and reach the target group of older people in case of emergencies and disasters. The project is also taking into account the resources and resilience of older people and is bringing together experts from the health and social sector and the field of disaster management. The project is being implemented in the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia and the United Kingdom from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2016.
Latvian Red Cross is THANKING every participant and rescuers for their support, work and responsiveness!
See the other photos from the event HERE!
