Taiwan citizens showcase their disaster response skills at Spirit of America-sponsored event
On September 14, Spirit of America and Taiwan’s Forward Alliance held a large-scale, cross-sector emergency preparedness exercise in Taipei, ahead of Taiwan’s annual National Disaster Preparedness Day. Nearly 300 participants, including civilian volunteer teams, professional first responders, and medical professionals, took part in the exercise, aimed at enhancing Taiwan’s resilience to emergencies.
The exercise, simulating a disaster in a rural area, featured a building complex that first responders had to navigate and extract victims from. Professional and volunteer teams collaborated on tasks such as search and rescue, medical care, and providing shelter to the injured and displaced, in addition to using drones and other resources to manage the crisis until a government response could be mobilized to the scene of the emergency.
“Disasters often come when we least expect them. But if we are better prepared, we can protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities from harm,” said Taiwan Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim at the exercise. “This is why I believe that the mission of Taiwan and all our partners, in training our community volunteers, is so important—to safeguard our safety and ensure that everyone remains secure.”
“We are proud to work with Spirit of America to design this exercise,” said Forward Alliance founder Enoch Wu. “We are building the capability of communities to mobilize and help each other in a crisis. The fact that citizens from different backgrounds have chosen to come together toward a common goal demonstrates that Taiwanese have the solidarity and resolve to face any challenge ahead.”
Since 2022, Spirit of America has partnered with Forward Alliance to train over 18,000 Taiwanese civilians and first responders in essential crisis response skills, including field medical care, communications, light search and rescue, surveillance drones, and sheltering operations.
