Visitors view a quake relief exhibit at Beijing's Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution on Wednesday.

Fresh from its experience in the aftermath of the May 12 Sichuan quake, the country's national rescue team is vying for a place among the world's best.

Preparations for the United Nations standard test for heavy rescue work, scheduled for the beginning of next year, are already in full swing.

"The test is very strict, in terms of both equipment that is needed and the skills required of rescue work," Liu Xiangyang, deputy chief of the China International Search and Rescue Team, told China Daily on Wednesday.

If the national rescue team attains the standard, it will join just two other national teams to have done so - those from the United States and Singapore.

During the test, which will last up to four days, foreign rescue work professionals are expected to gather in Beijing and determine whether the Chinese rescuers have the ability to perform tasks at international levels.

A team that qualifies for the standard is expected to be able to handle various complex situations, as well as be self-sufficient for 15 days without causing disruptions in the disaster area it is operating in.

Liu got a taste of the challenges his compatriots will come up against, when he saw with his own eyes how the Singapore team did it last year.

"A simple mistake of the member failing to wear a required information card may result in immediate failure for the whole team," he said.

Liu believes the work his rescuers carried out for victims of the Sichuan quake will prove invaluable in the coming test.

The team left for Sichuan within 15 minutes after they were alerted on May 12. In the next 17 days, they worked for 216 hours at 48 sites, rescued 49 people, helped locate more than 300 others, and removed 1,038 bodies. Hope among victims reportedly rose whenever the rescuers sporting orange outfits with the words "China Rescue" emblazoned across their backs appeared.

"That's where my confidence stems from," Liu said.

After the quake, the rescue team also got together and re-evaluated their work to seek out possibilities of further reducing their rescue time.

"Time is life. Although we took only four heavy pieces of equipment to Sichuan due to the carrying limits of helicopters, there was always a way to speed up operations. In some cases, time for operational work may even have been reduced by half," Liu said.

All the team members contributed ideas to improve their work, he said.

"The quake provided hard-won experience, at the risk of our members losing their lives," Liu said.

The national rescuers are also sharing their experience in the quake with provincial teams and volunteers.

"I hope they can respond swiftly if similar situations occur in the future and help save more lives. That's at the back of my mind every day," Liu said.

In the meantime, the team has the UN test to pass.

"We know it is an enormous and complex task, but we have complete confidence of success," Liu said.

(China Daily October 9, 2008)