Between 13 th to 16 th October, in Avrig, Sibiu County, Romania took place the second civil protection modules field exercise within Cycle 11 – 2022- 2023, Lot 2: exercises for flood related CBRN and forest fire fighting modules and other response capacities. The exercise consisted of 3 days’ field activities and focused on operational cooperation of all involved partners within the framework of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, following a large-scale flooding in a fictitious country – Modulistan. The capabilities involved in the exercise were: High-Capacity Pumping modules from Bulgaria, Germany, Moldova and Romania and Flood Rescue Using Boats from Austria and Romania. The exercise was organized by the CN APELL-RO, as leading consortium, and General Inspectorate for Emergency Situation from Romania as partner, in compliance with the service contract no. ECHO/SER/2019/814454 . The exercise was hosted by Sibiu County Inspectorate for Emergency Situation who planned the operational part of the exercise, managed the sites and provided a great logistical support. The Romanian colleagues have planned every detail of the exercise and due to their extraordinary logistic support have been able to provide a very good training environment for the modules. After the arrival and being allowed to enter Modulistan with all their equipment the modules were tasked with their first assignment - assessments to locate a proper place for their Base of Operations. The EUCPT (also role played) and the team leaders were participating in different meetings with local authorities, assessed the intervention sites they were tasked with by the LEMA, collect and coordinate the information related to the needs of Modulistan. The changing of LEMA priorities and other unexpected events, as well as the weather (wind, rain and low temperature) increased the pressure on the training audience making teams’ activities even more difficult. The modules operated on a 24/7 basis, receiving both day and night tasks and being requested to switch location according to the changing of operational priorities. The difficult situations in which FRUB and HCP were placed tested their capacity to operate together by coordinating their actions, being interoperable and exchanging continuous information about the operational situation, being flexible to the local authorities requests. The HCP modules, among other missions, were challenged to implement technical solutions for long distance pumping water to secure the water distribution for a large number of communities while the FRUB modules have been confronted with mass evacuation of people from the flooded areas and supporting local authorities in providing essential services for the people in need. The closing ceremony and a social event were organized outdoor, close to the BoO, giving modules the chance to be appreciated by the locals. At the end of the exercise the modules representatives expressed their gratitude for the excellent opportunity offered by the Romanian colleagues to train and test their abilities when deployed in an international mission.

 NATIONAL DEPARTMENT FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS  GENERAL INSPECTORATE FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS  INSPECTORATE FOR EMERGENCY SITUATION SIBIU COUNTY