Sichuan PMC establishes emergency rescue contingent

In mid-January, 2012, six detachments of a reserve comprehensive emergency rescue contingent under the Sichuan Provincial Military Command (PMC) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted a three-dimensional rescue drill, starting the emergency rescue training of the year 2012.

According to the briefing, in October of 2008, the military and local authorities of Sichuan Province decided to rely on a reserve engineer regiment to establish a reserve comprehensive emergency rescue contingent, which consists of six province-level professional natural disaster relief detachments such as a reconnaissance, search and rescue detachment, a flood-fighting detachment, a geological disaster relief detachment and an explosive searching and removing detachment.

Currently, the contingent has 161 kinds of advanced emergency rescue equipment totaling 3,000-odd pieces (sets) and the capacity for life search and rescue in such complicated environments as urban architectural complex, plateau, cave, water and night.

Since its establishment three years ago, the emergency rescue contingent has participated in the relief work against the earthquake in Yushu and the mud-rock flow disaster in Qingping Township of Mianzhu City in southwest China's Sichuan Province, and accomplished all the missions splendidly.