Several collapsed buildings are located at the training area in the village of Epeisses in canton Geneva.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
The main part of the Geneva military training area is dedicated to the Epeisses training village; it belongs to the Swiss armed forces, which are also responsible for the support and maintenance of the facility.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Covid-related materials must also be correctly handled during the rescue exercises.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
A member of the French rescue team tries to get through a thick concrete ceiling
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
The volunteers lie in hard-to-reach spaces, waiting to be rescued.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
A person is rescued from the cavity of a collapsed building.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
The body bags are not needed for the exercise, but they are a reminder of the seriousness of the training scenarios.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
An injured volunteer is lowered by rope on a stretcher from a roof.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Somewhere inside there is still an injured volunteer.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Swiss Rescue team members prepare to rescue an injured volunteer from the roof of a collapsed building.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Working with heavy machinery and tools in confined spaces is extremely demanding.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
On the ten-hectare training area, the rescuers prepare for a mission under realistic conditions.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
A box to transport rescue dogs.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Food rations for the rescue teams.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
A rough sketch shows the collapsed building, additional possible hazards and the technical equipment required.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Rescue work inside a collapsed building.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
UN observers watch rescuers training at Epeisses.
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch
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Thomas Kern was born in Switzerland in 1965. Trained as a photographer in Zürich, he started working as a photojournalist in 1989. He was a founder of the Swiss photographers agency Lookat Photos in 1990. Thomas Kern has won twice a World Press Award and has been awarded several Swiss national scholarships. His work has been widely exhibited and it is represented in various collections.
The village of Epeisses, west of Geneva, is so realistically modelled on real earthquake or bomb destruction that rescue teams from around the world come to Switzerland to train.
Not only the army and civil organisations such as the police and fire brigade use the village for training purposes, but also international organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
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You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.