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Search and rescue teams from various NATO Allies and partner countries are taking part in a disaster response exercise in North Macedonia.

North Macedonia is hosting a disaster-response exercise, jointly organised by NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) and the Crisis Management Center of the Republic of North Macedonia.

Exercise ‘North Macedonia 2021’ involves 27 NATO Allies and partner countries, along with 16 regional and international organisations. The scenario for the exercise is based on urban search and rescue operations; mountain search and rescue; flood response; response to chemical, biological and radiological incidents; and fake-news campaigns.

Footage includes various shots of search and rescue mock scenarios and soundbites with Marc Di Paolo, Director, Defence Institution and Capacity Building at NATO and Aco Vulević, Deputy Team Leader, Directorate for Search and Rescue, Ministry of Interior of Montenegro.

SHOTLIST

1. (00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – CROATIAN SEARCH AND RESCUE DIVERS ON SMALL BOATS LANDING ON BEACH
2. (00:13) VARIOUS SHOTS – CROATIAN SEARCH AND RESCUE DIVERS UNDERWATER CONDUCTING A SEARCH OF A SUNKEN VESSEL
3. (00:49) VARIOUS SHOTS – BULGARIAN CBRN TECHS EXAMINE AND PERFORM CHECK ON A SIMULATED DANGEROUS ITEM
4. (01:27) VARIOUS SHOTS – NORTH MACEDONIAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS CONDUCT TRAINING EXERCISE LOWERING A STRETCHER FROM A HIGH POSITION (NO SOUND)
5. (01:50) VARIOUS SHOTS – HELLENIC ARMY SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM DRILLS AN ACCESS HOLE THROUGH A WALL
6. (02:13) VARIOUS SHOTS – HELLENIC ARMY SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM PASSES A STRETCHER THROUGH A HOLE IN A WALL
7. (02:36) VARIOUS SHOTS – HELLENIC ARMY SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM PERFORMS FIRST AID ON A SUBJECT DURING TRAINING EXERCISE, ATTACHING IV EQUIPMENT
8. (02:54) VARIOUS SHOTS – HELLENIC ARMY SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM EVACUATES A CASUALTY TO SAFETY ON A STRETCHER THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE WALL THEY CREATED
9. (03:29) AERIAL DRONE FOOTAGE – NORTH MACEDONIAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS IN TRAINING AREA
10. (03:46) AERIAL DRONE FOOTAGE – CROATIAN SEARCH AND RESCUE DIVERS ON SMALL BOATS
11. (03:53) VARIOUS SHOTS – MONTENEGRIN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM PREPARES ROPES BEFORE CONDUCTING ABSEIL TRAINING
12. (04:26) VARIOUS SHOTS – MONTENEGRIN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM ABSEILS DOWN ROCK FACE AND RESCUES A TRAINING DUMMY
13. (05:53) AERIAL DRONE FOOTAGE – MONTENEGRIN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM ABSEILS DOWN ROCK FACE AND RESCUES A TRAINING DUMMY
14. (06:36) VARIOUS SHOTS - SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS FROM MONTENEGRO AND BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA USING COMPUTERS DURING TRAINING EXERCISE
(07:01) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – MARC DI PAOLO, DIRECTOR, DEFENCE INSTITUTION AND CAPACITY BUILDING, NATO

“The Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre, it’s awkwardly named but it’s a very effective little organisation that matches requests for international assistance with offers to support those requests. It’s been around for 23 years serving Allies and partners. In fact, it was founded as a partnership tool, so we’re happy to use it as a platform to help Allies and partners.”

(07:29) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – MARC DI PAOLO, DIRECTOR, DEFENCE INSTITUTION AND CAPACITY BUILDING, NATO

“We need to use the exercises so that we can see the procedures working from end-to-end. Ideally, you could just look at the command and control, for example, and focus at the strategic layer or at the operational layer. But if you don’t have the people in the field doing the rescue operations you lose realism and you can’t really tell if your procedures work, you can’t tell if you’re interoperable. So, we need the end-to-end chain.”

(07:53) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – MARC DI PAOLO, DIRECTOR, DEFENCE INSTITUTION AND CAPACITY BUILDING, NATO

“I think the COVID pandemic showed us that there are things that come from directions where if you’re not prepared it puts your security at risk. So, we’re going to keep focusing on the civil support piece to disasters and consequence management, while we’re also maintaining a focus on the traditional deterrence and defence.”

(08:15) SOUNDBITE (MONTENEGRIN) – ACO VULEVIĆ, DEPUTY TEAM LEADER, DIRECTORATE FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE, MONTENEGRIN MINISTRY OF INTERIOR

“First of all, we are very pleased that we take part in this exercise in North Macedonia as teams, as national teams for rescuing people from the ruins, and we are glad that we are representing Montenegro in this exercise. The exercise is well organised and everything is going according to plan.”

(08:35) SOUNDBITE (MONTENEGRIN) – ACO VULEVIĆ, DEPUTY TEAM LEADER, DIRECTORATE FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE, MONTENEGRIN MINISTRY OF INTERIOR

“Cooperation with other countries is very important because of the work that we do and because we gain new experiences through such exercise and cooperation with neighbouring countries, and other countries as well.”

(09:01) SOUNDBITE (MONTENEGRIN) – ACO VULEVIĆ, DEPUTY TEAM LEADER, DIRECTORATE FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE, MONTENEGRIN MINISTRY OF INTERIOR

“We do our job, which is very demanding, because in case of an earthquake, both Montenegro – which is located in a seismic zone – and the surrounding countries really need help. Montenegro is a tiny country, and in catastrophes such as earthquakes it has limited human resources and equipment. And in case of a disaster, support, especially from neighbouring countries, would be very helpful.”

(09:18) SOUNDBITE (MONTENEGRIN) – ACO VULEVIĆ, DEPUTY TEAM LEADER, DIRECTORATE FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE, MONTENEGRIN MINISTRY OF INTERIOR

"Benefits that we can expect – we as rescuers and our country that expects us to do our best in these situations, in these crises – are to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible from this exercise and take them to Montenegro – ranging from protection and rescue services, protection and rescue direction, to training people and transferring knowledge into practice“.

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