The devastating consequences of a natural catastrophe, force countries to seek aid among themselves, in accordance with the international regulations, counting on all their resources, capabilities and specialized teams in order to mitigate its consequences properly.

Within this context, it is mandatory that countries show a great solidarity, providing all their available logistical and technical support for the benefit of an affected nation. Due to their availability, projection capacity and self-sustainment equipment, the Armed Forces are a powerful tool of the Foreign Action for any State.

UME’s creation has allowed Spain to be a pioneer nation by counting with specialized Armed Forces and thus, obtaining a better use of their capabilities when a catastrophe occurs. This has increased the interest of other nations and international organizations in UME, becoming a reference and a useful model when the military forces are needed in case of emergencies.

Many countries have shown their interest in this project, due to the fact that its effectiveness has already been demonstrated in missions such as earthquakes in Haïti, Nepal or Ecuador, where the Urban Search and Rescue teams from UME collaborated with other national and international emergency services.

For that reason, UME has been the first complete military unit to obtain the United Nations Classification in urban search and rescue (USAR). Its model’s validity is demonstrated by the fact that the experiences obtained have either been taken as references in many international forums or through the signing of agreements with international organizations of different countries like the Conference of Central American Armed Forces (CFAC).