As Glas Istre/Andjelo Dagostin writes on the 16th of November, 2019, ninety rescuers from eighteen countries across the world are attending the conference in Poreč, Istria.

The thirteenth conference of the European Caverescue Association (ECRA) opened yesterday near the Baredine cave with ninety rescuers from eighteen countries partaking. The opening was attended by Poreč's Elio Štifanić and the commander of the Poreč public fire department, Denis Matošević. Also present at the conference's opening was the President of the Tar-Vabriga Tourist Board Denis Žužić and host Silvio Legović.

The introductory conference was moderated by the Marko Rakovac of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS).

''I'm convinced that with your suggestions and with the exchange of experiences you will contribute to the development of the rescue service and efficient rescue in humanitarian crises,'' stated Denis Matošević.

The meeting was originally planned in Turkey, but was cancelled due to the unfavourable political situation. The counrtries participating in the event are caving and rescue services from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, the USA and the United Kingdom.

On the first day, an underground rescue workshop was held where international experiences were exhanged in order to help injured persons as quickly, safely and as effectively as possible, both underground and in other humanitarian crises.

Expert workshops will be held at the event, which include caring for the injured, how to properly handle the injured, internet in the underground, carbon dioxide in the underground, rescue missions in submerged speleological facilities, the widening of narrow passages in the underground and certification.

In addition to expert lectures, demonstrations and workshops, an important topic of the roundtable discussion will be the establishment of the World Caverescue Network and a diving exercise near Tar. Otherwise, the ECRA - European Caverescue Association (ECRA) was founded back in 2012 and has its headquarters in Zagreb.

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