The primary objective of this project was "Obtaining instructor skills and knowledge in Urban Search and Rescue", i.e. capacity building in USAR training, aiming to train four long-standing volunteers of the Unit to instructor level in urban search and rescue. Following their training, they would be able to formulate a course programme for the initial training of EFRU rescuers as well as to develop ongoing development training in the same subject. This is an effort to enable the Unit to train its personnel in-house as alternatively, training the whole team abroad at operator / technician level would certainly be impossible and not sustainable on the financial front. This is part of a holistic approach that the organisation is adopting for all of its rescue disciplines in which it needs to train its personnel i.e. training its key members to instructor level at a reputable and experienced training provider to enable in-house high level standard training that can be tailored to the Unit's needs.
Organisation: The Emergency Fire & Rescue Unit (EFRU) of Malta is a voluntary organisation with the primary objective of maintaining a unit of organised, well equipped and fully trained rescue volunteers to assist authorities in major disasters, man-made or natural, and other incidents. The EFRU may also deploy resources abroad through its membership in EVOLSAR, the European Association of Volunteer Rescue Teams. The EFRU is committed to the continuous development of its volunteers and the community in general through its Community Assistance Programme. The EFRU offers the following learning programmes: - Firefighting (both Basic and Technical levels) - Rope Rescue (Level 1 and Level 2) - Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) - Road Traffic Collision Extrication - Canine Search and Rescue - Medical first response (both basic First Aid and Trauma First Response) - Water Rescue - Basic Rescue Project: To date, internal EFRU knowledge in USAR and capability for teaching the subject have been quite limited. USAR is an important rescue discipline when it comes to responding to collapsed buildings, especially in an earthquake scenario. Through this project, EFRU intended to develop 4 USAR instructors able to deliver high quality training.