Ten members from the St John Rescue Corps (SJRC) just returned back to Malta from a week's training with various rescue organisations, that are based in the lake area of Konstanz in Germany.

The members were hosted at the Local Chapter of Konstanz of the THW (Federal Agency for Technical Relief) and the trip was fully funded through the EU Civil Protection Exchange of Experts Program.

Training consisted in shoring of collapsed building together with the THW, high angle rescue techniques with the Konstanz Fire & Rescue Department, diving and rescue by boat with DLRG (German Life Saving Society) Konstanz and setting up of a medical camp with the Malteser also of Konstanz.

Members of SJRC together with members of these organisations worked hand in hand and exchanged experiences on different technical methods adopted by the organisations.

During this trip the SJRC Members also travelled to Austria to observe a National Exercise organised by the Police, Army, Austrian Red Cross, Austrian Fire & Rescue Department and the Mountain Rescue Volunteers, that was also observed by the Minister of the Interior Johanna Mikl-Leitner and other senior officials.

After the exercise the members were invited to visit the all-volunteer Fire Department of Rankweil to view their set-up and equipment.

The SJRC regularly organise overseas training in order to maintain its members highly trained and motivated, the previous one held last November when twenty one members attended an Urban Search and Rescue training course at the Merseyside Fire & Rescue Services Training and Development Centre in Liverpool UK.

This trip to Konstanz served to forge new international partnerships with highly respectable organisations and plans are in progress to reciprocate by hosting these organisations in Malta for training next year.

Note: Names of the members that are showing in the group photo above starting from the left: Joseph Sammut, Stefan Cirillo, Bryan Wubbels, Robert Attard, Chris Borg Cardona, Edward Midolo, Michael Muscat, Josef Borg, Roberto Caruana Gauci, Ivan Azzopardi