The Donauleiten on the northern bank of the Danube in the upper Mühlviertel is not only densely wooded, inhospitable and steep, but is also home to many communications dead spots. In other words, it is perfectly suited to putting the EMEREC operations management system through its paces.
The practice scenario that confronted the firefighters of the Hofkirchen im Mühlkreis Fire Department (Lembach section) from the Upper Austrian Mühlviertel region during their spring training was by no means straightforward: No trace could be found of three hikers, who were suspected to be missing in the area of the Donauleiten. The alarm was raised with the local fire departments, the Red Cross, the police and a dog squad, who were also involved in the search for the three missing persons.
With EMEREC you can quickly and easily visualize which areas the emergency services have already searched
means of communication
After the operational chief divided up the search areas, which, in the case of search operations, is the police, the search efforts began. To manage the situation and also as a means of communication, the EMEREC operations management system from Rosenbauer was deployed.
"In the search area, the so-called Donauleiten, radio communication is unreliable. Therefore, we relied upon the Messenger function of the mobile version of EMEREC, which made smooth communication possible," stated the platoon commander of the Hofkirchen am Mühlkreis volunteer fire department, Andreas Höglinger.
coordination and implementation
A perfectly coordinated approach is particularly important in search missions on difficult terrain to ensure that the area is properly searched without any sectors being overlooked. With EMEREC you can quickly and easily visualize which areas the emergency services have already searched or where they have not yet been. The coordination and implementation in the search exercise in the upper Mühlviertel seemed to work very well; the three missing hikers were quickly located.
However, one individual - who was discovered in the vicinity of some ruins - was injured (according to the scenario). After being rescued and transported over the difficult terrain, this person was handed over to the Red Cross for further care. After finding all persons and the successful completion of all exercises, participants then continued to the debriefing.
Exercises for emergency situations
The EMEREC operations management system is a practical tool that provides excellent support
Brigade commander Christian Hintringer and his colleagues from the police and the Red Cross were able to draw a positive conclusion: The interaction between the various emergency response organizations functioned well and all tasks were resolved relatively quickly.
Such exercises are hugely important in allowing services to be prepared for an emergency, as shown by an overview of the nearly 80 missions that the Hofkirchen fire department was called out to in 2018: for example, one of these involved the rescue of a paraglider, who crashed in the area of the Donauleiten and was stuck in a tree.
Another important conclusion that could be drawn in the wake of the successful exercise: The EMEREC operations management system is a practical tool that provides excellent support in handling such scenarios.