ESTONIAN RESCUE BOARD (ERB)
2020 will see a new project implemented by the AHA Centre known as LACER – or Shortening the Learning Curve of AHA Centre through Support from EU Civil Protection Agencies.
LACER’s specific objectives are to (1) strengthen the capacity and sustainability of the AHA Centre towards achieving operational excellence in disaster monitoring, preparedness and emergency response, and; (2) to enhance mechanisms for ASEAN leadership to respond as one, through excellence and innovation in disaster management.
As seen in the Column Volume 58, the LACER – or Shortening the Learning Curve of AHA Centre through Support from EU Civil Protection Agencies project will be implemented through a consortium led by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), alongside the Estonian Rescue Board (ERB). In Volume 58’s Partnership article we learnt about the MSB, therefore for this issue we will take a further look into the ERB.
ESTONIAN RESCUE BOARD (ERB)
The Estonian Rescue Board is a public authority under the Estonian Ministry of the Interior. ERB employs over 2,100 people making it the third-largest public sector institution in Estonia. The ERB operates within five key areas, being prevention, safety surveillance, rescue work, explosive ordnance disposal, and emergency management.
As an emergency management authority the ERB has been involved as a partner in developing the emergency services of several disaster-prone nations in the European region, such as working supporting Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and the Ukraine. ERB offers expert knowledge in national and international disaster management and logistics, and delivers training, exercises, advisory services and mentoring to its partners. Depending on the context, ERB can also mobilise external experts from different fields of specialisation for international deployment to disaster, usually within areas such as ICT, health, education and civil engineering.
The ERB has departments that develop, plan and manage activities, as well as Regional Rescue Centres and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre that implements the activities in the field. North, South, East and West Regional Rescue Centres undertake tasks such as day-to-day rescue work, fire safety surveillance, emergency prevention, and crisis management.
ERB is actively involved in European Union cooperation, and is an active member in Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), and has experts in the Union Civil Protection Team (UCPT) and Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), as well as in the European Civil Protection Pool (ECPP). The ERB is an active partner of the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP), of which it currently sits as chairman until the end of 2020.
The LACER Project is the first consortium project across region involving the AHA Centre, MSB and ERB on Disaster Management Capacity building.
Written by : Ina Rachmawati | Photo : AHA Centre
