“Search and Rescue Exercise and Training Program” Organized in Bosnia and Herzegovina by virtue of TİKA

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and the Mountain Rescue Service (GSS) Tuzla organized a search and rescue exercise and training program in the city of Tuzla in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The program, also supported by Tuzla Municipality, was held in the Square of Freedom. Basic search and rescue techniques were introduced to the people of Tuzla, especially children and young people. The event, organized by GSS, which has been operating since 2020 and has 25 active members, included basic first aid training and a high-angle rescue drill.

Deputy Mayor of Tuzla Metropolitan Municipality, Zijad Lugavić; TİKA’s Coordinator in Sarajevo, Erdinç Işık; President of GSS, Maja Hadžimehić; search and rescue volunteers and the people of Tuzla attended the program.

Thanks to the personal equipment and advanced search and rescue equipment provided by TİKA, the aim was to enhance rescue operations, train search and rescue volunteers under better conditions and increase the number of volunteers.

GSS, which participated in the search and rescue training organized by TİKA in Bosnia and Herzegovina at both the trainer and trainee levels, aims to increase its current capacity and continue its search and rescue activities both within the country and in neighboring countries as needed.

Participated in search and rescue operations in the catastrophe of the century

Emil Isaković, a member of GSS, reminded that they went to Türkiye and participated in search and rescue activities after the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, which occurred on February 6, 2023 and were described as the ‘disaster of the century’. Isaković stated that GSS acts like a family and that they are always ready to help people.