EvRe - Evacuation Ready

An online workshop was organized on the 15th of December 2022 for the Finnish Red Cross staff from the HQ and regional branches. The participants familiarized themselves with the EvRe project’s content, its goals, primary activities and the outcomes that should be reached during the project. Partner National Societies (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) also organized workshops with approximately the same content.  
 
The workshop gave background information about the EvRe project and guidelines in Host Nation Support in emergencies, natural disasters, conflicts, or other types of hazards. 
 
The workshop concentrated on the following topics: 

• Learning how the Red Cross support channels operate 
• Understanding the role and responsibilities of a host national society in cross-border operation 
• Studying the training material in order to internalize its theoretical framework and key concepts  

The workshop also included getting to know the scenario training exercise, which simulated a maritime accident thus incorporating all relevant learning goals.  
 
18 people attended the workshop. The Finnish workshop was facilitated by Virpi Lohrum.  

Kaspars Patmalniks, Ingrida Tauperytė, Rusnė Matulaitytė, Gabrielė Jasunskienė and Martynas Bražėnas from the Lithuanian Red Cross visited the Finnish Red Cross Headquarters, Helsinki and Uusimaa district, Tikkurila branch and also the Logistics Center Kalkku in Tampere from 22nd to 23rd of February.  
 
The primary reason for the visit was to develop and enhance the Lithuanian Red Cross’ logistics unit and their expertise, but also other elements of development were included and discussed during the visit.   

Lithuanian Red Cross was eager to familiarize themselves with the Volunteer Management of Finnish Red Cross and how it functions on all the three levels: HQ, district and branch. Sole Noranta introduced Volunteer Management from the HQ perspective to the Lithuanian Red Cross staff members. They were also given a presentation on the Finnish Red Cross International Department and Emergency logistics by Marko Korhonen and Miia Pöllänen. Project Manager Virpi Lohrum presented the key elements of the Finnish Red Cross disaster preparedness. 

The Lithuanian Red Cross staff members were also introduced to Helsinki and Uusimaa district and Tikkurila branch, where the main topic of discussion was Volunteer Management on respective levels.  

The last leg of the tour was the Finnish Red Cross Logistics Center Kalkku in Tampere. The guests were introduced to the functioning of the Logistics Center and given a tour at the warehouse. There were also presentations on the procurement process, web shop management and storage.  

Training of Trainers (ToT) for Setting up and Running the Evacuation Center Activities were organized for staff and volunteers in each of the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, during March and April.

The Finnish Red Cross was the main facilitator of the ToTs, with a total of eight staff or volunteer trainers from the Finnish Red Cross were facilitating the trainings. Each Host National Society also had facilitators available for the training.

The trainings gathered altogether 48 participants. Each face-to-face training lasted for two days, including material to be studied in advance as a mandatory section. 

The training provided the participants knowledge on the risks and scenarios for possible evacuations, the core functions of the evacuation center, including leading and taking care of volunteers, and the trainer´s skills.

The participants learnt about different possible risks and scenarios in the Baltic Sea Region and the roles and responsibilities of the authorities and the Red Cross in evacuations. The Finnish Red Cross trainers shared some examples of evacuations, where the Finnish Red Cross has supported authorities. 

The first day of the ToT focused on Setting up the Evacuation Center. Evacuation Center Services session concentrated in the services and functions of the evacuation center, for example registration of the evacuees, First Aid, Psychosocial Support including Child Friendly Space (CFS), supporting basic needs such as shelter and food and things related to leading and management of the volunteers.

The participants learnt how to set up different services, and how to plan different layouts of the evacuation center. 

The second day concentrated on running the evacuation center. In the volunteer management session, the participants learnt the importance of the efficient and effective volunteer management, such as how to alert and train spontaneous volunteers and how to lead volunteers.

In the final exercise participants put in practice all what was learned during the training in the Table Top Exercise. In these ToTs, the scenario for the exercise was a large building fire in an elderly home, where there were beneficiaries in a particularly vulnerable position.

The learning objectives of the ToTs aimed to cultivate expertise in evacuation procedures and equip trainers with the skills and resources necessary to effectively organize and execute training sessions. 

After completing the training, the participants should: 

• Understand the role of authorities in evacuation activities 
• Understand National Society’s auxiliary role 
• Know what evacuation center activities are and how they should be set up, managed and closed according to standards 
• Understand the importance of well-delivered services in evacuation centers 
• Know how to lead volunteers in evacuation centers 
• Know how to train volunteers in evacuation center activities

Past crises have demonstrated the necessity of cross-cutting and multisectoral civil emergency preparedness, along with the importance of collaboration and exchange of information in the event of cross-border or large-scale disruptions or disasters.

The Evacuation Center Activities training fostered cooperation between the Red Cross and Civil Protection Authorities by concentrating on boosting capacities for the establishment and management of evacuation centers, and by working jointly with various emergency support services.

As part of the EvRe-project, a table-Top Exercise was organized to assess the regional response and coordination abilities of the Red Cross Movement and EU Civil Protection authorities. The exercise was held in Tallinn, Estonia, from 10th to 11th of May. 

The main objective of this exercise was to simulate a large-scale regional emergency. The scenario in the exercise was a maritime accident in the coastal waters of Estonia.

Following the accident, the local authorities approached the Estonian Red Cross with a request for assistance. They asked the Estonian Red Cross to reach out to the Finnish Red Cross, the Latvian Red Cross, and the Lithuanian Red Cross, as a significant number of individuals rescued from the ship belonged to these nationalities.

Upon receiving the request for assistance, the National Societies dispatched coordination experts to plan the process for the evacuation. 

Participants in the Table-Top Exercise brought together the project partners: the Baltic and Finnish Red Cross Societies as well as the Civil Protection authorities.  
 
Through the Table-Top Exercise, the effectiveness of existing contingency and preparedness plans, the Standard Operating Procedure, between the Civil Protection authorities and the Red Cross Movement, and the collaboration between the Red Cross Movement and the authorities were thoroughly tested.  
 
A particular emphasis was placed on assessing the reception of international aid, evaluating the effectiveness of the Host Nation Support Guidelines, and examining interoperability within the Red Cross Movement. 
 
The desired outcome of the exercise was to gain a better understanding of how the coordination and cooperation function at the Red Cross National Society Headquarter level during disasters, with the goal of enhancing collaboration between different stakeholders. 

The activities carried out during the Table-Top Exercise were:  

• Drafting, sending out and responding to a request for assistance between the Red Cross National Societies in the Baltic Sea region. 
• Coordinating and dispatching a response team from the respective countries through collaboration at the level of National Red Cross Societies.  
• Simulating the process of team deployment to the requesting country, utilizing the Host Nation Support system. 
• Practicing the establishment and continuous operation of an evacuation site. 
• Organizing the evacuation and transportation of individuals from a foreign country back to their home country. 

Objectives of the exercise: 

• Play through arrival in the country that submitted the request for help, using the Host Nation Support (HNS) system.
• Practice setting up an evacuation site and keeping it in operation.
• Organize evacuation/transportation from a foreign country to the home country.

As a final part of the EvRe-project, regional response and coordination was put to the test. The Field Training Exercise, held between 15.-17.9. in Haapsalu, Estonia, brought together the project partners: the Estonian, Finnish, Latvian and Lithuanian Red Crosses and the European Union Civil Protection authorities.  

The purpose of the exercise was to practice and strengthen the cooperation between the Finnish and the Baltic Red Cross Societies, as well as the Civil Protection authorities in cross-border evacuation situations. 

The scenario for the exercise was a large-scale regional emergency: a cruise ship accident in the coastal waters of Estonia. In the scenario, a cruise ship sailing on the Helsinki-Klaipeda course runs aground near Hiiumaa to a main engine failure and sinks to one side.

The crew begins to evacuate the passengers from the ship to the shore and close to 1,800 people reach the Hiiumaa beach.

Local authorities and agencies start to accommodate the evacuees, but due to the limited resources on the Hiiumaa island, it turns out to be very difficult.

As a result, the local authorities ask the Estonian Red Cross to send out a request for help to the Finnish Red Cross, the Latvian Red Cross and the Lithuanian Red Cross, as most of the evacuees are of these nationalities. 

Based on the scenario, a unified Red Cross Emergency Operation Center was created, where the lead of the operation, which involved participants from all partner countries, worked. 

A gathering point for evacuees was assigned in the port of Heltermaa by the rescue authorities. For this purpose, it was necessary to map out the possibilities of the port in cooperation with the Heltermaa port staff. 

Registration and forwarding of evacuees from the ferry to the evacuation center happened in the port of Rohuküla, in the mainland. Once again, the planning and the set up of the registration center was done in cooperation with Rohuküla port staff.

The Rescue Board assigned three possible locations for the evacuation centers, all of them in Haapsalu. 

A total of 60 people were involved in the Field Training Exercise. Among the participants, there were 30 trained staff and volunteers from the partner Red Cross Societies, 11 statisticians from the Estonian Red Cross Valga Branch and 7 Field Training Exercise organizers. Additionally, the Swedish Red Cross sent one observer to the exercise.  

All participants jointly affirmed that they worked as one team, no matter which National Society’s representatives were in the team. The Field Training Exercise shows that trainings based on the same program, joint table-top exercises, lead to constructive cross-border cooperation in case of emergencies. 

The biggest benefit of the training was to gain experience in crisis management and the creation of evacuation centers

Objectives of the exercise: 

• Drafting, sending out and responding to a request for support between the National Societies of the Red Cross in the Baltic Sea region; 
• Completing and sending out the response team of each country through coordination at the National Society level; 
• Play through arrival in the country that submitted the request for support, using the Host Nation Support (HNS) system; 
• Practise the cooperation between the supporting teams and the respective authorities; 
• Practice setting up an evacuation site and keeping it in operation; 
• Practice reporting to the authorities.