The All-Russian civil defense drill started today in Russia. The first stage of the drill is practicing organization of civil defense actions, disaster and fire management, notification and gathering of senior officials of federal and regional executive authorities, local governments and civil defense forces, deployment of civil defense management system on all levels, readying civil defense communication and notification system.
On the first day, the Emergency Ministry planned comprehensive civil defense steps to be taken in territories of civil defense groups in each region of Russia. Safe areas for sheltering evacuated people, material and cultural values, vehicles and equipment are being checked, composition of task forces, procedure for forming a civil defense team and for operations related to different types of disguise are being revised.
Additionally, daily control centers and evacuation bodies are being deployed and alerted and evacuation plans are being specified. Commissions will have meetings on the first day to discuss how to improve stable operation of economic facilities and vital services, during which they will hear reports on the readiness of federal and regional executive authorities, municipalities and organization to civil defense actions.
After the National Crisis Management Center brought the management signals, all management bodies, state authorities, forces and facilities on duty and people were notified through notification systems available.
In addition, on the first day of the drill, federal executive authorities are practicing civil defense actions, revising civil defense and civilian protection plans, composition, missions and procedure of the officials authorized to handle civil defense tasks and included in task forces. Collaboration and information exchange protocols are being rehearsed, evacuation plans and routes, use of vehicles and equipment for evacuation are being revised. Civil defense forces and facilities of federal executive authorities are being involved in practical actions – forces and resources of rescue units, brigades of federal authorities, enterprises and organizations.
The National Crisis Management Center is planned to gather and exchange information on civil defense actions with crisis management centers of Emergency Ministry’s regional centers and directorates in constituent territories. Information capacities of dispatch services of federal executive authorities and the single dispatch service of municipalities will be tested, including using automated software for planning and taking civil defense actions and protected channels. There will be joint and separate drills to test communication between control centers on the federal, regional and municipal levels.
The three-stage four-day drill involves more than 40 million people, more than 200,000 specialists of rescue units based in regions, organizations and enterprises, as well as some 50,000 units of equipment. Management bodies and forces of the Emergency Ministry’s territorial bodies have been put on simulated high alert.
Representatives of federal executive authorities, heads of regions, local governments and organizations are taking part in the massive drill. Emergency Ministry’s forces and facilities are fully engaged, including rescue military divisions, rescue units, paramilitary mine rescue units and State Small Vessels Inspectorate, fire departments and aircraft.
The topic of the drill is Organization of civil defense during large natural and man-caused disasters in the Russian Federation.