Civilian rescue teams offer help at home and abroad

Disaster prevention

Based on the development experiences of foreign civilian rescue teams, Yang said they should shift their focus to disaster prevention and mitigation.

"They should mainly work in their home areas and devote themselves to their local communities. This would be more cost-effective for them as they wouldn't have to travel long distances," he said.

Disaster prevention and mitigation services are in high demand at the grassroots level, and both governments and enterprises need to hire such services. The shift in focus would conform to the actual conditions for their long-term development, he said.

Some rescue teams have already managed to strike a balance between working for the public good and obtaining funds to maintain their operations.

The Shenzhen Rescue Volunteers Federation in Guangdong province is one of them. With over 2,000 volunteers and 700 uniformed rescuers — who have all undergone training and passed relevant tests — the group has mastered rescue techniques.

The team, which was officially established in 2008, has squads for mountain, urban, air and water rescue, medical services and emergency communications, said Shi Xin, the federation's head, adding that it has 11 full-time employees.

It takes roughly 2 million yuan a year to support the operations of such a team, said Shi, who is employed by a local transportation company.

Thanks to government procurement of services since 2015, the federation is not only able to maintain its operations, but it can also buy new equipment and provide regular training sessions for members.

For example, it offers training to local police and fire brigades in mobile communications, search techniques and water rescue, he said. It is also engaged in the management of emergency shelters and safety education in communities.

The federation is also supported by a number of foundations. With the support of the One Foundation, a public welfare foundation in Shenzhen, 22 of its members took part in the rescue operations in Turkiye in February.

The federation also joined the rescue operations for the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and the collapse of a dam in Laos the same year.

"I think we do well. We do everything to the best of our abilities," Shi said.

Contact the writer at houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn