B-FAST present at the 4th European Forum for Civil Protection
Date:
Wed, 05/15/2013
On May 15th and May 16th 2013, the European Commission organized the 4th European Forum on Civil Protection. Main theme of the Forum was ‘Towards more cooperation in disaster prevention and disaster control’. Beside the Member States of the European Union, a number of international partners (United States, Russia, ASEAN Secretariat) attended the Forum. In the margins of the Forum, a simulation exercise was held. It took place just outside the conference room, at the Round about Schuman, where an OSOCC (On-site Operation and Coordination Centre) had been set up. In the jargon of the international community of disaster control experts, OSOCC is a temporary headquarters where operations of disaster relief experts are being coordinated. The exercise simulated a flooding in West Moldavia. Visitors on the OSOCC site could witness how team members (amongst others B-FAST team member Patrick BROECKX) coordinated the various simulation operations, for which they used hi-tech material.
The European Commissioner for Crisis Response, Miss Kristalina GEORGIEVA, also visited the OSOCC site on May 16th. During her visit, she was provided detailed information on the actions of OSOCC by the members of the team, amongst whom the Belgian René WAGEMANS.
Two partner departments participated in the B-FAST contribution to the OSOCC site. As mentioned before, the FPS Foreign Affairs delegated Mr René WAGEMANS as a member of the team. The FPS of the Interior caught the attention with the GOLIATH pump, a high pressure pump (66.000 litres per minute) the Civil Protection uses to efficiently fight flooding. The new pipes of this pump mechanism allow a more flexible use.
During the forum, the B-FAST Secretariat could establish first contacts with the Disaster Reduction Department of the ASEAN (the international organisation of countries in South-East Asia). Since the devastating tsunami in 2004, the countries in this region have been spending more on disaster prevention and disaster control. A few weeks ago, B-Fast participated in a disaster relief exercise in Thailand (you can find more information in the article on this subject – ARF DiREx 2013).