URCS Rapid Response Teams take part in training to counter effects of flooding

Rapid response teams of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) honed their skills in providing assistance to the population during the flood at the joint exercises of rescue services.

"In Kyiv, an exercise was held to respond to an emergency situation related to flooding ... Rapid response teams of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society joined the exercise," the URCS reported on Facebook on Thursday.

In the event of a flood threat, the main task of the rapid response teams is to evacuate the population and provide them with first medical and psychological assistance.

According to the URCS, during the exercises, volunteers of the rapid response teams worked out such actions as deploying a headquarters, rescue operations to remove flood victims from a drifting boat, providing emergency medical care to victims in difficult weather conditions, and catering for evacuated people.

Special equipment was involved in training to rescue victims on the water.

More than 120 representatives of rescue and utility services took part in the joint exercises.

As reported, in 2023 the water level in the Dnipro River is 0.5-1 m higher than last year. According to the Ukrainian hydro-meteorological center, the peak of spring floods in Kyiv is expected approximately on April 22. Now there is flooding of floodplain territories, which are flooded almost every year during the spring flood, in particular, the islands of the Muromets Park, Hydropark, Trukhanov Island, Galerna Bay, Korchyvate, and private areas in the Osokorky area.