TEHRAN – The Rescue and Relief Organization of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) is holding disaster preparedness and response training courses for some 85,000 rescuers, relief, and rapid response teams.

The training courses will be concurrently conducted in different provinces, including Tehran, Isfahan, Kerman, Gilan, and Markazi, IRNA reported.

The course has three modules regarding national hazards. The first part will be implemented in cities for relief workers. The second phase will train rescuers at the provincial level, and the third will be for rapid response teams, who have a central role in disasters and crises.

So far, three trainers have been trained in prehospital care,  logistics,  relief preparedness, and combat in Gilan province. Upon their return to their own provinces, the trainers will hold specialized courses for relief workers and rescuers.

In January, the IRCS held a rescue and relief Olympiad for 256 men and women rescuers from all over the country, competing in four-member teams.

The main objective of the Olympiad was to improve the physical fitness and skills of the IRCS rescue forces to enhance their efficiency in providing relief services in times of disaster.

The rescue and relief Olympiad involved seven steps, including navigation (forest, valley, and mountain), water rescue, rescue basket, emergency accommodation (setting up tents), prehospital care, road-rescue missions (stabilizing, saving, and transferring victims), and mountain search and rescue.

MT/MG