900 to participate in military-free Tainan civil defense drill

Taipei, March 24 (CNA) Around 900 civilians will practice using military field hospital equipment without the assistance of armed forces personnel during a civil defense drill in Tainan on Thursday, a source told CNA Monday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told CNA Monday that though the drill is to be staged in Tainan, fire departments in nearby Kaohsiung and Chiayi and alternative service conscripts will also join.

On March 18, Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) announced that the small-scale exercise would simulate a severe "compound disasters" scenario involving earthquakes, tsunamis and critical infrastructure disruptions.

Kuo said the drills would test central and local governments' emergency response capabilities, such as large-scale evacuations, sheltering, and establishing emergency medical facilities.

The exercise will also feature civilian participation to test public-private sector cooperation in the event of major disaster thus enhancing whole-of-society defense resilience, Kuo said.

Although military personnel will not take part, the Ministry of National Defense's Medical Affairs Bureau will lend its newly purchased Forward Resuscitative and Surgical Detachment (FRSD) medical sets and inflatable field hospital tents for use in Thursday's drill, the source added.

FRSD is a set of medical supplies and equipment that provides the necessary medical materiel to establish a rapidly deployable urgent initial surgical service, the source said.

The weatherproofed inflatable field hospital tents are quick and easy to set up and light for transportation and are used to treat patients in the aftermath of natural disasters and in war zones, according to the source.

Another unnamed senior Ministry of Interior official told CNA Monday that unlike previous rounds of civil defense or Wan An air raid drills Taiwan organized before, Thursday's drill will be "unscripted and more realistic."

The official added that following the Tainan drill, the government would proceed with Urban Resilience Exercises from April to July, which combine the Wan An air raid drills and Min An disaster response drills.

The series of exercises will culminate in the military's annual Han Kuang drills' live-fire portion in July, the official added.

Thursday's exercise is to take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Tainan Municipal Nan-Ning Senior High School, Anping Port Visitors' Center and the square across from the Tainan Yuping Post Office, according to the Presidential Office.

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) will travel to Tainan to preside over the exercises.

Such efforts were launched under the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee, an advisory group established by the Presidential Office.

The committee has pledged to enhance Taiwan's resilience by training civilian forces, securing strategic and critical supplies, reinforcing energy and key infrastructure, and ensuring the continued operations of medical, transportation, information and financial facilities.