INTEGRATION AND INCREASING THE QUALIFICATION AND OPERATIONAL CAPACITY OF MOUNTAIN RESCUE SERVICES IN THE MESTIA – SVANETIA REGION.

IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD: 2016
STATUS: completed
SOURCE OF FINANCING: the Polish Aid development cooperation program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
CO-FINANCING AMOUNT: 240 598.00 PLN (total cost: 283 498.00 PLN)
PARTNERS
PROJECT: Board of Administration of Mestia Municipality, Union “Svaneti Tourism Centre”, Department of Specialist Services Geopl.eu

The main goal of the project was to support public administration in responding to crisis situations in the Svanetia region in Georgia. The previous expertise, carried out in cooperation with Janusz Brożek from Geopl.eu Ltd., experienced in the field, showed that rescue groups in the region lack the skills to carry out rescue operations in the mountains, response schemes and actions in crisis situations, as well as equipment necessary for effective conduct of activities in the mountains. There was a real lack of organized mountain rescue.

In order to improve the situation of rescue groups and thanks to the support from the Polish Aid program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, employees of the ICAD Foundation with the project partner Department of Specialist Services Geopl.eu (Janusz Brożek) and experts from the Mountain Volunteer Ambulance Service (Edmund Górny, Łukasz Urbanek) and Tatra Volunteer Ambulance Service (Andrzej Maciata, Katarzyna Turzańska) implemented the following activities:
• development and implementation of emergency response mechanisms of rescue services in the Svanetia region based in Mestia,
• improvement of the qualifications and operational abilities of unit employees through practical and theoretical training,
• creation of the germ of the Volunteer Mountain Rescue Service in Mestia
• verification of the rules of functioning of emergency services employees and the use of owned equipment before undertaking project activities and after their completion,
• supplementing the basic rescue equipment of individual rescue units
• establishing the framework of the Volunteer Mountain Rescue Service in Mestia.

Twelve people were successfully trained, who then, with the support of the ICAD Foundation, the project partner of Geopl.eu. and Polish experts employed under the project, but mainly thanks to their own involvement, created the rudiments of the Volunteer Mountain Rescue Service in Mestia with the name Mountain Rescue in Georgia “უსაფრთხოება მთაში” (Safety in the Mountains).

The trainings took place in a building shared by the local administration. The mountain equipment purchased as part of the project was handed over to the local administration and the newly established Mountain Rescue in Georgia organization “Safety in the mountains”.

A report was also prepared on the state of mountain rescue in the region and on the optimal directions for its expansion. The further development of the organization in Svanetia was independently supported in 2017 by Department of Specialist Services Geopl.eu. and volunteers from the organization “Safety in the mountains”. In 2018, the ICAD Foundation again received funds from the Polish Aid program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland to carry out further activities aimed at improving the level of mountain rescue in Georgia.