More than 80 civil defence volunteers from towns across the Bekaa Valley spent the weekend practising winter rescues on a closed mountain road, in a drill organisers described as the largest of its kind in the area.
Teams rotated through three scenarios: freeing a car trapped in a snowbank, evacuating passengers from a stalled minibus, and setting up a heated first-aid tent in under twenty minutes.
"Every winter we get the same calls, usually at night and usually on the same few roads," said Karim, a team leader who has volunteered for eleven years. "The drill is about doing the boring parts quickly so the hard parts get our full attention."
Organisers said the exercise also tested a shared radio channel that lets neighbouring volunteer centres coordinate without relaying messages through a central office.
A second drill focused on flash flooding is planned for the spring.
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