Taiwan enhances disaster response via AI and international drills

Taiwanese emergency services are advancing disaster response capabilities through technological innovation and large-scale collaborative drills.

The Kinmen County Fire Bureau received a bronze award in the professional concept category of the second Phoenix Cup Fire Invention and Design Competition. Their winning entry, the ‘Smart Rescue-Precision Dispatch-Disaster Prevention AI Smart Dispatch Platform,’ was developed to address the logistical challenges of managing large numbers of volunteers during major disasters, such as the Hualien Matautuan incident.

In Taitung, the county government conducted a large-scale earthquake rescue drill simulating a 7.3 magnitude earthquake caused by the Huadong Valley fault system. The exercise involved over 1,000 participants, including central government agencies, national rescue teams, the military, and civilian volunteers. Notably, the Taitung County Health Bureau integrated Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) into the drill, verifying coordination between central authorities, military medics, and international medical teams from Poland, Japan, and the United States to enhance medical resilience for mass casualty events.