 Rescue 119 team members and a search dog look for bodies at a chemical factory hit by earthquakes in Shifang, Sichuan, China in this May 18, 2008 file photo. The Korean rescue unit raised the prestige of the country by offering rescue services upon a disaster overseas. / Korea Times Photo by Wang Tae-seok |
By Alan BiggsContributing writer
Most of us are familiar with the great work of Korea's 119 Fire Service, but what do you know about the National 119 Rescue Services and its international remit? A visit to its Namyangju Headquarters of in Gyeonggi Province, what we might think of as the SAS of 119, was impressive and inspirational. The evolution of this unit goes hand-in-hand with that of Korea's other advances in the last score of years.
The National 119 Rescue Service is a representative emergency rescue organization in Korea. 119 Rescue Service, a central governmental agency, has been providing assistance in large-scale domestic and overseas disasters, protecting lives and properties over the last 15 years.
Those who have had the opportunity to visit the base of an elite military unit such as the Royal Marines, USMC, KMC or the Parachute Regiment will have immediately noticed the sky-high morale of the unit, most commonly expressed by people walking around sporting huge grins and obviously pleased to be where they are. No compensatory swagger, no rowdy behavior, just a cool, calm confidence that they know what they are doing, augmented by a certain belief that they are the best at what they do. So is it at Namyangju.
The first interview was with slim and wiry 54-year-old Commander Park Chung-wung, who commands immediate respect through his logical appraisal of a situation (essential in an emergency), total knowledge of his subject, warm and confident demeanor, and, above all, that peculiar quality that is leadership. His men seem devoted to him, and in English refer to him as 'the Boss'. Commander Park reminds me of the quintessential Colonel of an elite British Regiment ― enough said.
The 119 Rescue Service was set up in 1995, just after 501 people were killed and around 1,000 injured during the Sampoong Department Store collapse in southern Seoul. Since then the unit has been deployed domestically 2,700 times and has rescued 4,755 people. In 14 overseas operations it has recovered 352 people, either alive or their bodies.
From where did 119 get the training that makes it a world-class force in search and rescue? Japan, Great Britain, the Netherlands, the U.S., Singapore and Germany have trained the unit's personnel, and close cooperation with these countries continues. 119 Rescue is now up to the standard of these advanced countries.
In its turn, training foreign rescuers and administrators is also part of the unit's scope of responsibility. Regular courses have been held annually over the past three years for rescuers and administrators from ASEAN, Sri Lanka and Mongolia, with either 10 or 20 trainees in each group. Additionally non-regular courses have been conducted for rescuers from Turkey, China and Taiwan; in all, 13 countries have benefited from 119 training and consultancy.
Valuable things often come in small packages and such is the case for 119 Rescue. It seems a bit of a puzzle that such a great volume of high-quality search and rescue (SAR) work has been done in Korea and abroad by a staff of 105 men and three dogs, and it speaks highly of the selection process applied by the unit.
Three other people were interviewed. The first was 42-year-old Kim Yong-sang (Joseph), who has had more than 10 missions abroad on behalf of 119. Amongst other things, he is a qualified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). We hit it off immediately when we discovered that he had served in Thailand with 119 for the South Asian Tsunami, while I was doing a similar job for the International Red Cross (on loan from the Korean Red Cross) in the Maldives.
Kim has also served in Turkey, Taiwan, Pakistan, Myanmar, China, the Philippines, Laos and most recently Haiti. These operations were mainly for earthquakes and typhoons, but in Laos he served as a member of UNDAC, the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team, a stand-by unit of disaster management professionals who are nominated and funded by the UN and member governments. Upon the request of a disaster-stricken country, an UNDAC team can be deployed within hours to carry out rapid assessment of priority needs and to support international relief on-site. 119 has signed an agreement with UNDAC that allows it to call upon 119 personnel at a moment's notice, a big feather in Korea's cap as only the best are ever requested.
The next interview was with Han Jung-min, 39, who has served abroad five times: in Iran, Thailand, China, Indonesia and Haiti. His latest operation was off Baeknyeong-do in the West Sea, searching for survivors of the stricken Korean Navy frigate, the Cheonan. Han was trained by the British Special Boat Squadron (SBS), the American equivalent of which is the Navy Seals. At Baeknyeong Island he dived to a depth of 48 meters, the height of a 16-storey building, in atrocious weather conditions and with severe tidal rips. God bless you Mr. Han, you're a braver man than I. A sad postscript is that a Navy chief petty officer lost his life during this operation.
The final interviewee was Lee Kee-weon, 37, who has seen service in China, India and Haiti, all post-earthquake operations. Lee also dived off Baeknyeong and, in addition, is a dog handler. In Haiti, though, the stench of rotting corpses was so great that the dogs had great difficulty in locating trapped survivors. I asked him what his wife's reaction was about him having to walk into danger for his job and was told that for his first rescue operation she was very nervous but since has been much less so. The other two rescuers said much the same and added that their wives were extremely proud of their humanitarian missions, and rightly so.
Something that all of the interviewees share in common is a calm confidence that they know precisely what they are about. Excellent training and equipment, and the close proximity of trusted comrades, make them able to believe, ``We have met the enemy and it is us.'' You can see the same thing in any elite military unit.
Kim next showed me the Situation Room. In racks were Bergen packs, filled with rescue and survival kits, ready to go and inspected every week by Commander Park. None of the nonsense on going out at a moment's notice and finding you've forgotten the GPS, or the batteries are flat or non-existent. The room also contains a Yonhap News Agency feed that shows the latest information on disasters worldwide. The facility allows searches for the latest updates on a specific situation. 119 Rescue is also part of the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) funded by ECHO of the European Union that also provides current data on international catastrophes.
The pride of the Situation Room is the terminals of the Search and Rescue Satellite (SARSAT) system. Ships, planes, etc. are equipped with an emergency beacon that, when activated, sends a distress signal and its geographic coordinates to an orbiting SARSAT. This signal is then relayed to a land station run by the Coastguard Service and then sent to the 119 Situation Room, manned around the clock.
The report is displayed on a computer map of Korea that can be zoomed in or out to pinpoint the disaster site and show access. With the cooperation of other countries, the system allows a Korean ship or plane to assist in distant parts of the world. The signal is evaluated and action taken. If necessary a team is sent out by helicopter and the rescue effected.
There's one small fly in the ointment: hand-held emergency beacons are available to the general public at a cost of around a million won. Sadly there have been cases of tourists summoning 119 Rescue via a beacon when they have locked themselves out of their cars and are far from town ― 119 does not charge for frivolous call-outs, other countries do.
Excellent facilities enable a wide range of services. Three helicopters are crucial to mountain recues. A full range of CBR (chemical, biological and radiation) equipment and the necessary training are a shield for Korea against terrorist attacks. The unit's search dogs are trained up to International Rescue Dog Organization standards, and are certified by IRDO. Bomb disposal robots can disarm weapons that are too dangerous for humans to go near. In short, all the kit is there, all is in perfect working order, and the unit is exhaustively trained in its use.
In conclusion, Korea can be proud of its 119 Rescue Service. This highly trained, well-equipped and respected unit offers great hope to the victims of disaster, and the international respect engendered by its operations and training abroad has materially raised the prestige of the country in foreign eyes.
Korea is conscious of the international assistance it received in the past to be able to flourish as it does in the present. Korea, a once long-time beneficiary of aid, is now dedicated to prove its capacity to perform humanitarian rescue work overseas. Just call 119 and they will take care of you!
 Alan Biggs is a 67-year-old Englishman who has lived in Korea since 1971. He is a former British Army officer, graduating from Sandhurst, who has worked for the Korean government and The Korea Times.For the last 20 years he has worked for the Korean Red Cross and saw service with the International Red Cross for four years as a Disaster Management Delegate in Bangladesh, the Maldives and the Philippines. He raised and led a Korean Red Cross rescue corps and maintains an avid interest in the subject. He lives in the Korean countryside, in Uiwang City. |
