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ICET is founded in 1993 by Mr. Jan V. Meertens, executive director and senior expert in risk, crisis and disaster management with substantial international exposure.  He has over 20 years of experience in the field of Risk Management, particularly in multi-disciplinary accident and disaster preparedness and response, design and planning of donor financed emergency response centres around the world and in the development of emergency response procedures. Mr. Meertens has undertaken numerous disaster management projects abroad and he has been involved, ¡®from conception to inception¡¯, of one of the most prestigious projects in this field, i.e. the establishment of an integrated emergency, multi-hazard response network for the city of Izmir, in Turkey, popularly called AKS-110. In terms of value, the largest project they have been awarded to implement in the recent past was worth US$ 25 million.

Over the years, with input from its own research and development, industrial and academic sources as well as from the field, ICET created the Systematic Approach to Victim Entrapment Rescue, SAVER. This method is a truly interactive and universal approach to this demanding form of rescue. ICET became a full service disaster preparedness institute in 1996 and gained accreditation in countries such as Portugal and Australia.

ICET is ISO 9001-2000 certified (2003), including its research and development. ICET is constantly in touch with leading automobile manufacturers, rescue equipment suppliers, hospitals and universities for research and course development. Today, ICET is the leading training expert in multidisciplinary rescue techniques with an instruction and consultant staff of more than thirty-five.

ICET uses not only it¡¯s own in-house instructors, but also instructors who are leaders in their fields from around the World. These instructors are assembled to instruct students in the fields covering their respective courses, whether that is aircraft rescue, RTA or USAR.

Courses will typically consist of between 16 and 20 persons and a typical course will have duration of 10 working days. Courses are tailored to the client¡¯s requirements and their perceived needs for training.

The firm¡¯s main area of expertise is within accident and disaster management with a special focus on the development of emergency response networks and multi-disciplinary training of rescue professionals.  ICET has assisted numerous local, regional and national governments with the development of programs to establish support and upgrade emergency response networks. Under its RENU (Rescue Network Upgrading) program, ICET has gained relevant experience in many countries.

The Saver Foundation specializes in research and development of multidisciplinary emergency (technical) rescue. It has been established by members of the academic world (emergency medicine and traumatology) and ICET to foster further research into the SAVER training methodology, safeguard its high quality standards and support multidisciplinary rescue organizations in vulnerable communities. Due to its close relationship with the University of Leuven (Belgium) and Erasmus University (Rotterdam/Holland), the SAVER Foundation is developing into a respected and highly specialized institute.

In conjunction with these two renowned universities a scientific study is underway to examine the effectiveness of the systematic approach to accidents with serious injury and/or entrapment.

SAVER contributors: Prof. dr. A.B. van Vugt, Prof. dr. M. Sabbe , Dhr. Th. W. Wulterkens, RN, EMT-P, RMA-P, and Mr. P. Entius.

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