In preparation for the 2013 ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Response Exercise (ARDEX) that will kick off on October 23 in Hanoi, the host on Tuesday conducted its own practicing session ahead of the annual event.

The practicing session took place yesterday in Thuy An Commune, Ba Vi District, under the direction of the National Committee for Search and Rescue.

Major General Nguyen Hoai Giang, chief of the Committee’s Secretariat and head of the Defense Ministry’s Rescue and Salvage Department, said the ARDEX is expected to strengthen ASEAN’s collective response to massive disasters in the region through practicing, assessing and reviewing disaster emergency response mechanisms under the ASEAN Standby Arrangements and Standard Operating Procedures.  

Sappers are setting up a pontton bridge that serves transportation in a flooded area (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

ARDEX is organized based on the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER), which mandates the strengthening of the emergency response to disaster and humanitarian assistance coordination.

This year’s ARDEX will be the first time to test the operational capability of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) since its establishment in November 2011.  

A helicoper is sent to the flooded area to support search and rescure activities (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

ARDEX-13 will use the scenario of Super Typhoon ‘Neptune’, which makes landfall in the area of northern delta provinces of Vietnam, mainly in Hanoi and Nam Dinh, killing 2,000 people, injuring 2,500 others and causing 1,000 other to go missing, Giang said. The disaster also serious damages infrastructure and information and communication systems, causes inundation in western Hanoi, knocks down some chemical stores leading to a spread of toxics, and leaves 20,000 people affected by collapsed houses and flooding and in need of emergency assistance.

Residents are evacuated through the pontoon bridge to a safe place (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

The Vietnamese Government announced a state of emergency, asking for regional and international assistance and support. On October 20, 2013, international aid forces arrive in Vietnam to give help in search and rescue activities, including setting up makeshift hospitals for victims. Seven countries and three observers will take part in ARDEX-13, Giang said, adding the Vietnam will be in charge in evacuations and giving emergency aids to people affected by flooding, while the other countries will conduct search, rescue, medical and other activities in the exercise.  

Soldiers take part in rescuing victims (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

About 2,500 people will take part in the exercise, of whom 800 will be used in evacuation and emergency aid activities, along with two helicopters, 28 ships and motorboats, 245 various vehicles, and a lot of telecommunications and medical equipment, he added.  

Soldiers put a victim into an ambulance (Photo: Tuoi Tre)