Major exercise

More than 200 emergency services involved in a pile-up

Three different (fictitious) scenarios will be practiced on Saturday.

(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

Together 2024 - this is the motto of the major district exercise taking place in Völkermarkt on Saturday. More than 200 emergency services will be taking part: rescue services, fire departments, police, mountain rescue, divers and others will be training for dangerous operations.

The scenario: a pile-up in front of the Völkermarkt Drau bridge - a total of six vehicles are involved in the accident, a car ends up in the Drau, a bus is parked across the road. In it: 20 injured people who have to be rescued!

This and two other fictitious scenarios have been faced by a total of 250 emergency personnel since the early hours of Saturday morning during the large-scale district exercise. The rescue team is practising rescuing injured people, while the divers are practising rescuing a car from the Drau.

"We have three scenarios: Forest fire after an accident, a pile-up at the Drau bridge and a hazardous goods spill," explains Patrick Skubel from the Völkermarkt district fire brigade command: "A wide variety of specially trained emergency services are deployed. A decontamination line was also set up at Gojer."

Exercises like this are extremely important for the emergency services, emphasizes District Chief Gert Klösch: "In August 2023 alone, after the storms, we had to deal with eleven crisis teams in the district! An exercise like this is important for communication between all those involved."

And the rescue workers, firefighters and their colleagues receive support: "Silent observers are also integrated. Mistakes are discussed and corrected," says Klösch.

"Rescue and care for people"
"It's about rescuing people from emergencies and providing them with rapid care," Skubel sums it up: "Large-scale exercises like this are important for the entire task force." Of the 45, 15 fire brigades are in action on Saturday, including the state's radiation protection team.

There are also several rescue vehicles and police patrols: "It's a team effort to practise this - providing security in the event of such a collision is also a high priority!" says deputy district police commander Gerhard Raffer: "Our job begins when the rescue services have provided first aid."

"Thankfully, scenarios like this are not an everyday occurrence," says Skubel - but: "That makes it all the more important to practise for emergencies! I would like to thank all the participating organizations, especially the Red Cross, for their excellent work."