On Friday, members of 23 PCK rescue teams and volunteer fire service units from Lithuania, Germany, Spain, and the U.S. started a three-day drill inside an old cellulose factory in the village of Malczyce.

Specifically, the units will simulate conducting rescue actions in the wake of a large-scale urban disaster.

“The area will be searched by the PCK and fire brigade rescue teams with dogs,” Andrzej Horowski, one of the organizers, said. “The rescuers’ task is to evacuate the injured to a safe place.

“Such exercises aim to maintain the potential of voluntary organizations supporting the National Rescue and Firefighting System and State Emergency Medical Service,” Horowski added.