Prepared and alert
The National Rescue Centre in Iceland is ready to respond to emergencies day
and night, all year round. The centre is manned with key players in
prevention and preparation for responding to accidents and natural
disasters. In response to such events they collaborate to a great extent in
commanding, dispatching, coordinating and carrying out rescue operations.
The National Rescue Centre Skógarhlíð houses the Joint Rescue and
Coordination Centre (JRCC) which carries out a variety of functions
nationwide. It responds to extensive search operations involving rescue
parties from various districts or when it is necessary to mount a search
over a large area. It is responsible for coordinating operations and in some
cases for commanding operations in collaboration with the local authorities.
Association staff and volunteers than take predefined measures under the
command of the Police National Communications Centre ( PNCC), the Icelandic
Coast Guard, or the Civil Aviation Administration, depending on whether the
emergency is on land, at sea, or in the air.
The Civil Protection Department (CPD) activates the Joint Rescue and
Coordination Centre (JRCC) in case of a natural disaster, accident, or
event that threatens the general public. The role of the JRCC is to
coordinate operations between districts and to ensure that a sufficient
number of people and equipment is available, to organize and control the
evacuation of the danger area, and to supervise inter-district assistance
and assistance by state institutions.
The JRCC includes representatives from associations who collaborate, both
within and outside of the National Rescue Centre Skógarhlíð.
The Civil Protection Department, PNCC, the Anti-Terrorist Unit, 112, the
Directorate of Health, the State Epidemiologist, the Civil Aviation
Administration, the Icelandic Coast Guard, the Icelandic Maritime Traffic
Service, the Public Roads Administration, the Icelandic Association for
Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR), the Capital District Fire and Rescue Service
(on behalf of the municipalities), and the Icelandic Red Cross. The
Icelandic National Broadcasting Service maintains broadcasting equipment in
Skógarhlíð. Other media have access to the same information as the National
Broadcasting Service and have access to a press-room in the National Rescue
Centre Skógarhlíð if required.
