TİKA Continues to Hold Training Courses on Search and Rescue in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) held the training "Advanced Urban Search and Rescue in Bosnia and Herzegovina” in order to increase Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capacity to respond to disasters and emergencies as part of its Emergency and Disaster Response Training Program (ADAMEP) in cooperation with the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation.

As a continuation of the search and rescue training programs that have been organized in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2019, the “Advanced Urban Search and Rescue Training” was held in Sarajevo from March 7 to 12, 2022, for 35 search and rescue team members from different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The training program included theoretical and applied training on emergency scene management, search and rescue techniques and building marking, working with cranes, debris removal techniques, horizontal and vertical urban rescue methods, well or ditch rescue methods, fortification, transportation of patients or injured people, psychological support during disasters, and post-rescue procedures.

The certificate presentation ceremony held at the International University of Sarajevo (IUS) at the end of the training was attended by Sadık Babür Girgin, the Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina; Admir Cvijetic, Advisor to the Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Idriz Brkovic, Head of the Department for Strategic Planning and Training at the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Erdal Altıntaş, Coordinator at IHH Disaster Academy; Muhammed Ünal, TİKA’s Program Coordinator in Sarajevo; Prof. Ahmet Yıldırım, Rector of the International University of Sarajevo; and many other Turkish and Bosnian officials.

In his speech at the ceremony, Idriz Brkovic, Head of the Department for Strategic Planning and Training at the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stated that they continued to organize productive search and rescue training programs for trainees from across the country and that the training programs will continue as planned. He thanked Türkiye for the training programs, which contributed to the training of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s human resources in the field of search and rescue.

Muhammed Ünal, TİKA’s Program Coordinator in Sarajevo, started his speech saying that the training programs were organized to increase the resilience of government agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina to emergencies that directly affect human life. He stated that nearly 150 search and rescue team members have been trained as part of the Emergency and Disaster Response Training Program (ADAMEP) since 2019, and congratulated the trainees who worked in the field as volunteers under difficult conditions and participated in the training courses.

As part of the Emergency and Disaster Response Training Program (ADAMEP), training courses will be held on urban search and rescue and water search and rescue in order to improve the local search and rescue capacity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.