URCS' Regional Disaster Response Teams receive unique experience in wartime – Dotsenko
Experience gained by the Regional Disaster Response Teams of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine is unique and worth sharing worldwide, Director General of the URCS National Committee Maksym Dotsenko has said.
"Experience you have gained during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine is unique in terms of the global perception of the Red Cross. I am sure that in the future you will become emergency response leaders in the Red Cross and Red Crescent globally," he said at a press conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Regional Disaster Response Teams of the URCS in Kyiv on Friday.
According to Dotsenko, emergency response teams are among the first to arrive at the scenes after Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian settlements, rescue people from under the rubble of destroyed buildings, provide them with first aid, and evacuate citizens to save places.
"All disaster response teams work very tensely and very responsibly. The team of more than 500 people and around 1,000 'spontaneous volunteers' is a fantastic team with fantastic experience and fantastic ability to work with full dedication," Commander of the Regional Disaster Response Teams of the URCS Taras Logginov said.
The URCS and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine are in talks on including the Ukrainian Red Cross to the civil protection system, he said.
"We are holding talks with the State Emergency Service to include the Ukrainian Red Cross in the civil protection system, so we already work at the state level. We are already a part of the state mechanism that provides care in emergencies," Logginov said.
The history of the creation of the URCS emergency response teams begins on December 1, 2013, when volunteers provided first aid to those injured as a result of the confrontation between protesters and representatives of security forces near the presidential administration building on Bankova Street in Kyiv.
Over ten years, volunteers of the URCS emergency response teams helped 388,545 Ukrainian citizens and carried out 17,000 duties.
Currently, there are 21 detachments and eight Regional Disaster Response Teams and 592 volunteers in Ukraine. They have 115 units of vehicles and special equipment at their disposal.
