Self-Help, Mutual Security: Enhanced T-CERT Program Further Boosts Disaster Response Capabilities and Operational Resilience at Port of Hualien

Official policies promoting nationwide self-rescue and mutual-assistance capabilities within the Taiwan Community Emergency Response Team (T-CERT) framework as well as ongoing efforts to strengthen autonomous disaster-response capabilities have led the Port of Hualien to further expand and deepen its onsite T-CERT team. Beyond adding critical new signal station expertise, the personnel and disaster response and relief re-sources of port businesses have been incorporated into the port's T-CERT network to bol-ster disaster prevention and response readiness.

After joining the Ministry of the Interior (MOI)'s T-CERT program in 2024, Port of Hualien established a dedicated onsite T-CERT team and completed related basic and specialized training courses. The goal of this program is to raise in-house abilities to respond quickly to major earthquake, explosion, and other disaster events while awaiting the deployment of organized external assistance. In August of this year (2025), MOI's National Fire Agen-cy (NFA) conducted additional onsite training and assessments at the port. The agency's enhanced training program targeted post-disaster building stability evaluation, medical triage, first aid, and other relevant emergency-response skills. Afterward, situational sce-narios were used to assess post-training abilities, with all participants passing certification requirements.

To further strengthen overall disaster response capabilities and ensure stable internal team communications and connectivity with response organizers, Port of Hualien has al-so incorporated key signal station staff into the T-CERT team. In addition, NFA's Hualien Harbor Fire Brigade is in the process of creating a united front framework to ensure suffi-cient resources and assistance are immediately accessible from major port businesses in the event of a disaster event in port. Key participants currently include Asia Cement Cor-poration's Hualien Logistics Depot and China Steel Corporation's Hualien Material Yard.

Normal operations at Port of Hualien, Taiwan's only international commercial port on the nation's East Coast, are critical to both regional economic stability and national security. Both the expansion of Port of Hualien's T-CERT team and creation of the Port of Hualien T-CERT United Front organization reflect Port of Hualien's deep commitment to building the rapid, cooperative response capabilities necessary to respond quickly and effectively to emergent situations. Looking ahead, Port of Hualien will formalize a regular T-CERT team training program to maintain in-house rapid-response and self-rescue capabilities that can be deployed while awaiting external assistance. The ultimate goal of these ef-forts is to ensure the resilience and safety of Port of Hualien operations in the immediate aftermath of disaster events.