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ZAKA International Rescue Unit Chief Officer Mati Goldstein: “Thanks to this training protocol, which was recognized recently at the UN by INSARAG, local volunteers now have the tools to save lives in light search and rescue. This training is of vital importance in the first 24 hours after an earthquake, before the arrival of international search and rescue units.”

Forty-five volunteers from the Mexican Jewish community, including local representatives from Cadena, Hatzala, the Chevra Kadisha and security forces, have just completed a week-long intensive training in light search and rescue and Chessed Shel Emmes in Mexico City, led by Jerusalem-based ZAKA International Rescue Unit Chief Officer Mati Goldstein.

This was the first time the training course had taken place, since the September 2016 recognition of the ZAKA light search and rescue training booklet and protocol by INSARAG, a global network of more than 80 countries and organizations under the UN umbrella dealing with urban search and rescue related issues, that sets stringent standards for training courses. The recognition of the ZAKA light search and rescue course set a precedent – the first time that INSARAG recognized a volunteer organization that is not restricted to one member state.

After three days of intensive course study in issues relating to light search and rescue and dealing with the victims in keeping with halacha, the volunteers moved out of the classroom into the field, including a highly realistic drill that lasted a full 24 hours. The drill included a simulation of the immediate after-effects of a significant earthquake, with the teams working in different sites inside and outside collapsed buildings, extracting the injured and the victims from the rubble. They also took part in the simulation of an explosive terror attack, practicing the skills they had learned in life-saving medical assistance and chessed shel emmes.

ZAKA International Rescue Unit Chief Officer Mati Goldstein: “The first 24 hours in any mass casualty incident are the most critical in terms of saving lives. This course provides the necessary tools, and subsequent simulation, to allow the local community to offer a professional, swift and life-saving response to any disaster in their region. And all this, before the arrival of international search and rescue teams.” According to Goldstein, this was the first time that all the different sectors and organizations in the Mexican Jewish community trained together, united to save lives.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: ZAKA)