19-24 May 2007
This May, Croatia will host a challenging civil emergency exercise; the fictional scenario will comprise facing a devastating earthquake, further aggravated by chemical leaks in an industrial seaport and the threat of terrorists using biological agents onboard a passenger plane.
This major NATO civil emergency exercise is organised by NATO's Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) in co-operation with Croatia and other NATO Partner and member countries.
Approximately 1,000 participants from 35 countries will take part in the exercise. There will be some 40 national expert teams, each with the expertise and capability to deal with a different aspect of the emergency as well as over 120 observers.
“This is a key opportunity for a complex test of international emergency rescue operations, “said Guenter Bretschneider, head of the EADRCC, "As a result of such exercises we are capable of mounting a swift response in real-life situations."
The exercise is scheduled to take place from 19 to 24 May in Zadar, Croatia and has been named “Idassa 2007”.
The Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) was created in 1998 to coordinate the response of NATO and Partner countries to natural or man-made disasters within the Euro-Atlantic area.
The Centre has guided consequence management efforts in more than thirty emergencies, including fighting floods and forest fires and dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes, including in Pakistan and in the US following Hurricane Katrina.
