- European Union institutions (in Civil Protection Committee under European Commission's Environment Directorate-General and in Civil Protection Working Group (PROCIV) of the Council of the European Union);
- NATO Senior Civil Emergency Planning Committee (SCEPC) and Civil Protection Committee (CPC);
- International Association of Fire and Rescue Services (CTIF).
Operational Department is point of contact (in terms of competence) for:
- The European Commission Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC);
- NATO Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Co-ordination Centre (EADRCC)
- United Nations:
- Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA);
- ECE Convention on the Trans boundary Effects of Industrial Accidents
Exercise "UUSIMAA 2008"
A consequence management field exercise organized by the Euro-Atlantic
Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) in cooperation with
Finland, the host nation, will be conducted in 2008, 1-5 June. The
exercise „Uusimaa 2008" is a Finnish contribution to the Partnership
for Peace (PfP) program for 2008. During the exercise a celebration is
planned to mark the 10th anniversary of the EADRCC.
All together, approximately 1100 participants, inter alia teams
with capabilities to deal with different aspects of emergencies, from
twenty-five Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) nations will
participate in the exercise „Uusimaa 2008": Armenia, Austria,
Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine,
United Kingdom and United States.
The fictitious scenario for the exercise will be flooding and
storms along the coastline of the Gulf of Finland. According to the
scenario, water levels will rise during the spring and the storms will
damage critical infrastructure objects. There will be also Chemical,
Biological and Radiological threat simulations.
Through the exercise „Uusimaa 2008", NATO and Partner nations will
practice the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre
(EADRCC) procedures and disaster response mechanisms, as well as
Euro-Atlantic Response Unit (EADRU) capabilities, in order to improve
nations' co-operation in emergency situations. The exercise will also
contribute to strengthening the stricken nation's capability to
effectively coordinate consequence management operations.
In exercise „Uusimaa 2008" Latvia is represented by two teams:
- Latvian Disaster Relief Team (12 people), equipped to perform urban
search and rescue (USAR) tasks in different conditions. Team is
composed of professionals form State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia;
- Latvian Medical Support Team (8 people), capable of providing
different kinds of medical aid, such as first medical aid, triage,
medical treatment, on-site stabilization before transportation to
hospital. The staff in the team is composed of competent physicians and
nurses form Centre of Emergency and Disaster Medicine.
In addition, as contribution and support to the exercise, Latvia will provide experts into several exercise elements:
- 2 experts in On-site operation coordination centre (OSOCC);
- 1 expert in Directing staff working group (DISTAFF);
- 1 expert in Media simulator group (Media simulator);
- 1 expert as Assessor;
- 2 experts as Observers.
Bilateral agreements
SWEDEN
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Latvia and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden on 17 June 2002 on collaboration within the field of Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response.
Operational Agreement between the State Fire and Rescue Service of the Republic of Latvia and the Swedish Rescue Services Agency on 12 May 2005.
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Republic of Belarus on 8 July 2002 on collaboration within the field of disasters, natural disasters and other emergencies and elimination of their consequences.
