After the earthquake in Spitak, when many countries in the world were supporting Armenia which was still in the structure of the former USSR during those years, provision of the humanitarian aid to the affected turned out to be organized inefficiently.

Donor countries and organizations were unaware of the needs and capabilities of our country. This experience caused establishment of a structure under the sponsorship of the United Nations in 1993, which had to make an assessment of the size of human and economic damage undertaken by the affected country and its needs. In 2009 this Structure also included the Operative Department, as represented by Deputy Head, Lieutenant Colonel Artavazd Davtyan, and   the Population and Territories Protection Department, as represented by its Head Colonel Hovhannes Yemishyan, of the Armenian Rescue Service of the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations.   

Director of the Armenian Rescue Service, First Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia Edik Barseghyan tells the following,-“In spring 2009 INSARAG Training Exercises took place in Armenia with the participation of experts and rescuers from 28 countries.  They saw that the Armenian Rescue Service of the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations is a sustained structure with qualified professionals.  Aimed at more development of their professional skills and knowledge two our collaborators were chosen and invited to go to Switzerland in September”.

The Structure established under the sponsorship of the United Nations is called UNDAC. The prior condition of becoming a member of this International Organization is the education of the specialists, their capacity and professional skills.   They must correspond to the standards defined by the United Nations. Besides the UN signifies the professional way the experts have passed and their language skills. The next important factor is the capability to provide self security. This already becomes clear via online questions and replies. For ARS MES collaborators A. Davtyan and H. Yemishyan the online interview took about six hours. This was their first examination testing their capacity of handling diverse situations safely.  After passing this stage successfully they took a qualification course. The final, closing and decisive stage was the earthquake scene that the team members had to participate in.  The participants had first to solve documentary issues, go to the UNDAC team assembly point, get the assignment, do their mission, hand in their reports and return to their country.

“We received a phone message asking whether we were ready to go to that country or not. We confirmed we were ready.  Time was settled. The hotel we were staying in was supposed to be the airport from where we had to leave for the affected country”, - says A. Davtyan.

The affected country was Julianda.  While you are trying to remember where Julianda is let us inform you that it is a virtual country but with real problems at this moment.
“At the so called airport somebody turned out to have left his passport, another person’s ticket turned to be irrelevant. They were left out of “the game”. And the groups became less and less”, - remembers H. Yemishyan

“Reaching Julianda” we had to cross the border by all means. But just at the border pass we were informed that strict sanitary hygienic norms existed there.

“We were made to take off our shoes, wash our legs in advance and enter the country only after that”, -says H. Yemishyan. “Washing the legs took 10 minutes. The water was cold and it was 4 am. The representative from Holland even offered a bribe to pass the border”, - continues A. Davtyan.

At the border pass they have even brought the photo of a participant and have announced, that person is wanted on international level and must be arrested immediately.

“These are lessons taken from real life”,-says A. Davtyan

The UN regulations and courses have been formed based on the lessons taken from real life which were also attended by Lieutenant Colonel Artavazd Davtyan, Deputy Head of the Operative Department of the ARS MES, and   Colonel Hovhannes Yemishyan, Head of the Population and Territories Protection Department of the ARS MES.   All this is already in the past.

More than 40 specialists from different countries participated in the training courses in 2009. But only 5 of them were chosen to become a UNDAC member, two of them were from Armenia.

“All this is not given easily.  In order to be involved in the process you should be ready both in capacity and with professional knowledge. I have to mention that Russia, such a huge, borderless country, has only 5 such experts”,- says Director of the Armenian Rescue Service , First Deputy Minister of the Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia Edik Barseghyan.     

As UNDAC members,  A. Davtyan and H. Yemishyan were the first in Armenia to learn about the disastrous earthquake in Haiti. Before the press could start informing people and the country about the size of the damage the affected country had undergone,   Director of the Armenian Rescue Service, First Deputy Minister of the Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia Edik Barseghyan held an urgent meeting with a constraint staff.     

They discussed the capabilities of the Armenian Rescue Service. Some minutes later 50 Armenian rescuers were ready to start for the affected area, however the Government of Haiti was not ready to accept that support because of some technical problems. Material assistance for Haiti was also discussed by the Government of Armenia and the International Organization, but, as the RA Prime Minister mentioned, there were problems in transportation of physical volumes of the assistance.  Therefore a decision was made to provide financial assistance. The Government of Armenia earmarked 100 thousand dollars for Haiti aimed at helping the affected from the earthquake. 

It is not the first time that the Armenian rescuers support the earthquake affected countries.  On December 1993 they went to Bam, Iran. On August 1999 they went to Izmir, Turkey where the underground tremor strength reached 7.7 magnitudes.

UNDAC member must be also aware of the national traditions of the affected country.

“A UNDAC member leaving for a country undertakes implementation of an assignment.  The country may be developed or very backward. We must also know the traditions of that country, for example: where can’t we address a woman for something? Or how can be the same rescue works organized?” -says H. Yemishyan.

Each year the capabilities and operation volumes of the Armenian Rescue Service of the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations enlarge. The responsibility framework also increases. And having a Service which corresponds to international standards already presumes preparedness of qualified specialists and continuous training.