Dhaka 31 October 2019: The nineth annual Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) 2019 co-hosted by Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR), Armed Forces Division (AFD) and United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) was concluded today Thursday (31-10-2019) at Army Golf Club, Dhaka Cantonment,Dhaka.
Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique, rcds, psc (Retired), Security Affairs Adviser to Hon’ble Prime Minister graced the closing ceremony as the Chief Guest. State Minister, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Dr. Md Enamur Rahman, MP was present as the Special Guest. Chief of Army Staff General Aziz Ahmed, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Aurangzeb Chowdhury and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Masihuzzaman Serniabat were also present. Ambassadors and Defence/Military Attache of participating countries were present too.
Main objectives of this exercise were to- Test and enhance own ability of managing earthquake disaster at City Corporation Level through establishment of Disaster Incident Management Team (DIMT) focusing SAR, communication(DRECS), medical, shelter, relief, etc. Enhance knowledge and practice of international tools and services for integration of international system into national system. Train divisional level planners/disaster coordinators (military and civilian), so that they can arrange similar exercise/training at divisional/local level.
More than 500 Participants from 237 different organizations participated in DREE Bangladesh 2019. The number of participants was around 1200 during the FTX. Moreover, over 100 participants from more than 20 countries also joined this exercise. Such exercise will enhance earthquake disaster management of Bangladesh and also improve regional cooperation for disaster response as a whole. DREE Bangladesh 2019 with the theme Resilience trough Preparedness will definitely be a land mark event in capacity building of Disaster Management in Bangladesh.
DREE is the largest earthquake disaster related exercise in the Asia Pacific region. The exercise was conducted from 27 October to 31 October 2019 simultaneously in Dhaka and Rangpur. This year the theme of DREE was ‘Resilience through Preparedness’. Dr Md Enamur Rahman, MP, Hon’ble State Minister, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief inaugurated the event. The exercise began with a two-day Subject Matter Expert Exchange where there was series of presentations by Subject Matter Experts which actually set the scene for Table Top Exercise (TTX). In the 3rd day an earthquake scenario in Bangladesh was depicted. Participants were divided into various functional groups for TTX. The TTX focused to bring out the challenges and recommendations for strengthening various Disaster Management frameworks as a whole and Disaster Incident Management Team (DIMT) in particular.
All theoretical discussions during TTX were exercised through a massive Field Training Exercise on the 4th day which was held in Bashundhara Residential Area ‘L Block’. During FTX, personnel were deployed in the field to test operational efforts associated with earthquake response. All stakeholders for earthquake management were integrated in the exercise. Major events of the FTX were search and rescue, fire fighting, aero-medical evacuation, logistics management, camp management, human remains management etc. Mr. Md. Tajul Islam, MP, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Co-operatives attended the programme as the chief guest.
