From October 23 to 25, a 32-hour field exercise on "Organization and implementation of search and rescue operations in case of an earthquake" was held in accordance with the standards of the UN International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) near Getahovit settlement of Ijevan community of Tavush province.

Tavush Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team consisting of 45 nationally qualified rescuers and 2 paramedics from the Ijevan, Dilijan and Noyemberyan Fire and Rescue Squads of the Tavush Regional Rescue Department participated in the exercise.

The purpose of the exercise was to check the development of the command staff of the USAR team, the coordination of rescue operations, the abilities in rescue operations, in particular, the ability to activity with ropes and special tools.

The activity process was followed on-site by a working group from the Ministry of Internal Affairs led by Armen Gevorgyan, Assistant Director of the Rescue Service of MIA of RA.

Tavush Urban Search and Rescue team conducted a simulation in three phases based on the scenario of a strong earthquake recorded in the Tavush region: mobilization, transportation to the disaster area and deployment of actions, demobilization.

According to the scenario, on October 24 of this year, at 06:45 local time an earthquake of magnitude 7 and 15 kilometers deep was registered in Azatamut settlement. There was great destruction, casualties and victims: about 2,300 people were injured.

The rescuers established a tent camp in the designated disaster zone. Immediately following the setup, the rescue teams received specific locations for conducting rescue operations, conducted reconnaissance and rescue work in 4-hour shifts, using various equipment for each site.

In the designated point, casualties were lowered using ropes, pulled stuck out rubble with special tools and safely evacuated from buildings using stabilization techniques.

At the end of the exercise, A. Gevorgyan summarized the results of the activity done, emphasizing the importance of the presence of USAR teams at the national level and the development of team capabilities in accordance with INSARAG methodology.