Indonesia’s search, rescue agency urged to pursue advanced technologies
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo on February 16 asked the National Search and Rescue Agency or Basarnas to add more advanced technologies to quicken the search and rescue of disaster victims.
The scene after the earthquake in Cianjur town, Indonesia's West Java province, on November 21 (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Jakarta (VNA)𝐆 – Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo onFebruary 16 asked the National Search and Rescue Agency or Basarnas to add moreadvanced technologies to quicken the search and rescue of disaster victims.
The leader highly appreciated Basarnas foreffectively completing its tasks as a national agency in charge of search andrescue. However, natural disasters are extremely harsh, causing heavylosses for people and, therefore, Basarnas needs to improve its capacity bydeploying advanced technical equipment. According to the president, countries like Japan and the UShave already possessed numerous advanced technology such as rescue drones toevacuate victims, snake robots that can locate victims, and diver robots thatcan find victims 1,000 meters below the surface. He urged Basarnas to add more safety gear to protect SARpersonnel, such as an "Iron Man" jet suit that will protect the teampersonnel in search and rescue efforts 3,600 meters above the surface. He then urged Basarnas to propose a budget plan fortechnology adoption as soon as possible. The president also pushed Basarnas to also intensify people’seducation regarding first aid when disasters strike./.
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The scene after the earthquake in Cianjur town, Indonesia's West Java province, on November 21 (Photo: AFP/VNA) 
