Tactical Training Train 2018 – Explosion in a Railway Car
03.10.2018
On Wednesday 3 October 2018, Integrated Rescue System units were training coordination of individual intervention activities in case of a simulated pressure bottle explosion in a railway dining car. Besides the Fire Rescue Service of SŽDC and Fire Rescue Service of the capital city of Prague, the Association of Rescue Volunteers of the Czech Republic took also part in the training.
”This year, SŽDC Fire Rescue Service units undergo many training sessions, some of them with international participation where there acquire valuable experience. Precisely such model situations which we can test within the Integration Rescue System during the training may show mistakes or defaults to avoid during real interventions. The purpose of tactical and methodical trainings is indisputable both from the professional and the economic point of view; well-prepared Integrated Rescue System units ready for real intervention in a sufficient number“, says Mr. David Soukup, Director of the SŽDC Fire Rescue Service.
The objective of the tactical training was especially to assess performance and cooperation of the Integrated Rescue System components and other entities involved in carrying out rescue and settlement activities right after a disaster on the railway is announced. Rescuers concentrated first on a triage of injured persons due to a simulated explosion of a LPG bottle in a dining car. The common intervention of the Integrated Rescue System units, SŽDC Fire Rescue System units and other components concentrated on rescuing people, providing first aid to all injured persons and preparing their transport to hospital institutions.
Due to the pressure bottle explosion, the railway car construction was disrupted. A number of passengers were killed and injured during the explosion. One of the uninjured passengers was the first to inform about the current situation by calling the phone line 112. As soon as the information was received, the machinery of rescue and evacuation activities started immediately.
The rescue intervention Train 2018 was prepared for approximately 60 rescuers who were taking care of five dozens figurants simulating severe or less severe injuries. The accident’s victims were represented by 20 realistically masked figurines. Precisely fast aid, triage of injured persons and their evacuation from the crashed means of transport were the main objectives of the intervention
During the training session, transferring information about the exceptional event to Integrated Rescue system units was tested as well as activation of crisis management bodies. Stress is also laid on mutual coordination which is necessary for a successful common intervention following an explosion in a railway car.
Rescuers tested procedures in the intervention commander headquarters, communication among separate intervening units, carrying out rescue and settlement activities, triage of injured persons and providing first aid in difficult conditions.
When the training was complete, a group of observers assessed its performance while focusing especially on the following criteria:
- following and assessing activities of used personnel and resources of the Integrated Rescue System units and other entities as far as observing time limits, principles of their use and coordination organization,
- following and assessing activities of activated headquarters,
- following and assessing activities of operation centres,
- preparing an evaluation of the training, suggestions for eliminating ascertained problems.
Any information acquired will serve for optimization of individual activities. It can be of considerable help to intervening units and their commanders for real interventions where injuries would not be simulated anymore and human lives would have to be saved in earnest.
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