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Drills

To ensure coordination between the various emergency services and the preparedness of professionals in the event of disasters, more than 30 drills are carried out per year with the Municipal Police, National Police, Fire Department, Calle-30, TEDAX (Bomb Disposal Expert) etc.

Drills are also carried out with Madrid Metro with the participation of the entire staff. Accordingly, the emergency service is trained and prepared for collective disasters (train crashes, derailments, among other possible accidents), which differ considerably from individual patient medical assistance. At the same time, the first responders are trained in resuscitation techniques and guidelines on how to assist the Emergency Services workers (or paramedics) to gain access to train carriages in the event of an accident.

Every two years, SAMUR-Civil Protection organises the Municipal Disaster Conferences, which includes a macro scale disaster drill entailing more than 600 participants from all law enforcement and emergency services, with ambulances from all over Spain and other European countries. Simulation exercise 2022 available at https://youtu.be/yTOyxg9xsXY

EUModEx (European Union Module Exercises).

SAMUR-Civil Protection is registered in the CECIS database of the European Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) as a fixed level 1 international medical team (EMT1 fixed). The UCPM seeks to strengthen cooperation between the European Union and Member States and facilitate coordination in the field of civil protection to improve the effectiveness of prevention, preparation and response systems for natural or man-made disasters.

When activated, the mechanism coordinates the delivery and provision of assistance within and outside the European Union through the Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC).

The main objective of the EUModEx exercises is to test the operational and assistance capacity of the various European Union Civil Protection modules and experts made available by the participating countries, to prepare them for possible international operations within the framework of the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

The first of these exercises was undertaken in the municipality of Arcevia, Italy, in October 2015. Three Advanced Medical Stations from Estonia, France and Spain and another technical assistance and logistical support station from Lithuania, under the coordination of the World Health Organization, provided medical care and logistical support to the inhabitants of a virtual country called "Modulistán" which had suffered a fictitious major earthquake. This drill served as an evaluation exercise and an excellent learning opportunity.

In April 2017, SAMUR-Civil Protection participated in the drill held in the Swedish town of Revinge. The exercise simulated severe flooding and a subsequent cholera outbreak, requiring coordinated action from various EU emergency services. Teams from Italy, Germany, Belgium, Austria and Sweden participated alongside our service.

In September 2019, a technical drill was undertaken in the former Netherlands Antilles. This exercise simulated a disaster caused by a volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami. In coordination with 11 other countries, SAMUR-PC participated as an EMT-1 (Emergency Medical Team type 1) organisation together with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

In November 2021 SAMUR participated in the EU MODEX TR drill organised in Turkey. This exercise simulated the devastating effects of an earthquake and teams were deployed together with teams from Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy and Turkey.

On 3 October 2023, the SAMUR-Civil Protection international medical team was classified as an Emergency Medical Team type 1 fixed (EMT1 fixed) by the World Health Organization's EMT Initiative. At that time, only 39 teams in the world held

this classification by the WHO. This is the first team of this type organised by a municipal service.

In January 2025 SAMUR participated in the EU MODEX 2025 PT drill held in Portugal. This exercise simulated the devastating effects of an earthquake and tsunami, and the service participated together with teams from Germany, Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal.

Prior to the classification as EMT-1 , SAMUR-Civil Protection has actively participated in disaster relief missions during the 2023 earthquake in Morocco, the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines ; the 2010 earthquake in Chile, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti; the 2009 earthquake in Sumatra; the 2007 earthquake in Peru; the 2006 earthquake in Java; the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, in the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean islands; the 2003 earthquake in Morocco and the 2003 earthquake in Algeria.

You can take a virtual tour of the EMT1 international medical team's camp of SAMUR-Civil Protection at https://servpub.madrid.es/visitavirtualsamurpc/emt1/