London and Paris are testing their response capacity on disasters that can affect the cities.
In the British capital, the London Fire Brigades hosted the exercise “Unified Response” from 29th February to 3rd March, based on a significant building collapse, incorporating heavy transport (underground) and mass casualties.
The exercise has been conducted simultaneously at four separate venues, as well as at a disused power station, and all of London’s emergency response organisations including local and national authorities participated, together with specialised teams from across the UK and from Hungary, Italy and Cyprus. Moreover, the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC, part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism) will also take part and the exercise is designed to validate protocols and coordination arrangements.
The Paris exercise, named “Sequana 2016” will be held from 7th to 18th March, and will be based on a huge flood that hits Île-de-France. It aims to enhance the cooperation between all the involved actors (including the EU Civil Protection Mechanism) and to increase awareness of the flood issue among the population.
Sequana, hosted by the Préfecture de police of Paris, involves actors from different levels:
- the EU Civil Protection Mechanism
- At national level, the Centre Interministériel de Crise (CIC – Interministerial Crisis Centre), part of Ministry of Interior
- Emergency service at regional, departmental and national level, including the prefectures affected by flood risk, which will activate their Centre Opérationnel Départemental (COD – Departmental Operational Centre)
- Local authorities (especially municipalities) that provide first-level emergency management
- Public and private stakeholders that want to test their prevention systems
To learn more about Unified Response, click here.
To learn more about Sequana 2016, click here (page in French).