“ASEAN Mounts Major Regional Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise”

scenario depicted below is simulated and does not reflect the actual situation in Singapore.

As announced by the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) on 16 October 2007, the ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise (code-named ARDEX-07) is well underway in Singapore . The exercise commenced on 20 October 2007 at 0800 hrs, with the issuance of daily situation reports on the simulated multi-storey apartment collapse. The scenario was subsequently simulated to have elevated in scale to a disaster emergency. Regional and international assistance were sought. The exercise will culminate on 24 October 2007 where joint search and rescue operations will be conducted from 0900 to 1800 hrs in the designated exercise zone. This exercise, being staged at the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Mandai Training Village , will involve over 300 participants and observers, and specialised search and rescue teams from Singapore and ASEAN Member Countries.

For the purpose of this exercise, host country Singapore has mobilised approximately 150 rescue personnel from its various units, namely the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART), Special Rescue Battalion (SRB) and Fire Stations. Other ASEAN Member Countries have started deploying their specialised search and rescue teams, arriving in Singapore by air, land and sea.

Brunei Darussalam has sent 5 special squad members from the Fire and Rescue Department with search and rescue equipment. Indonesia has mobilised 5 personnel from the Police Search and Rescue Division, the National Search and Rescue Agency and is operating the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) from Jakarta to coordinate with the authorities in Singapore for offers and requests for assistance from the region and international organisations. Malaysia has deployed 25 specialist rescuers from its Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) and arrived in Singapore via land through the causeway linking Malaysia and Singapore . The Philippines has sent 16 search and rescue technicians from the Olongapo Fire-Rescue Team and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Fire Department; and Thailand has deployed an urban search and rescue team comprising 6 members with equipment and also designated a Chief Referee for the exercise, heading a group of referees from ASEAN Member Countries and other international organisations.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) has deployed 15 member-international team from OCHA Geneva and Bangkok, including 4 members from the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team and partner agencies from the DHL, Telecoms san Frontiers and Map Action, to support the local authorities in the coordination of international Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operation assistance and humanitarian aid. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has teamed up with the Singapore Red Cross as well as other National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from the Southeast Asian region to deploy two teams, consisting of 8 medical and relief personnel to assist in the operations. Additionally OCHA and the International Federation will contribute referees for the review of the exercise.

The key simulation events to test the participating responders will include the need to attend to a high number of casualties requiring medical triage and evacuation, trauma care for victims on-site, rescue of victims trapped under piles of concrete rubbles and heavily flooded areas, and the use of acoustic and optical search equipment to detect the location of other trapped victims.

The event will be presided over by Dr. Teo Ho Pin, Singapore 's Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) Chairman for Home Affairs and Law.

ARDEX-07 is the third of a series of annual disaster simulation exercise which ASEAN conducts annually to enhance the capacities and capabilities of Member Countries in joint emergency operations guided by the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER). The first simulation exercise was held in Selangor , Malaysia in 2005 followed by the second one in Takhmau and Kein Svay along Tonle Bassac River in Cambodia last year.

Members of the media are invited to witness the event on 24 October 2007.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia , Indonesia , Lao PDR, Malaysia , Myanmar , the Philippines , Singapore , Thailand and Viet Nam .

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ASEAN Secretariat

23 October 2007

For media inquiries please contact: Adelina Kamal , Environment and Disaster Management, Bureau for Resources Development, ASEAN Secretariat, Tel: +65 824 750 29, + (6221) 7262991 ext. 316, e-mail: lina@aseansec.org