Last year was very successful for our firefighters.

They have built a new training center - a climbing polygon, where you can train most of the possible interventions that may be needed in the company. They have a crane runway, enclosed spaces, shafts and the like in one place. All components of the simulator come from USSK and copy real spaces and situations. For example, they have a footbridge, ladders, staircases... They adapted the openings of the shafts to what they need to practice, for example, the narrow entrance to the breathing area. This training center was completed in the summer.

In the autumn, a new ambulance was added to their equipment, equipped with modern devices such as a defibrillator, artificial lung ventilation, aspirator, video laryngoscope, ozone and UV disinfection......

It is said that all is well for the third time and our firefighters managed to build another training center on their own, an anti-gas polygon, which was approved in December by the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, the Presidium of the Fire and Rescue Service (we will bring a mini report in the coming days).

With the fire chief Benjamín Brandis, we also looked at the numbers: "Over the past year, we had a total of 1,222 dispatches: to fires, assistance, technical dispatches, rescue unit dispatches... In addition to assistance, the most common trips were associated with the provision of medical assistance, for back pain, in the abdominal area, minor injuries and we were also called to nausea, especially during hot summer days, the number of which has noticeably increased compared to previous summers.  In terms of the total number of exits, we are within the limit. We have from 1,000 to 1,600 of them a year."

The strength of our firefighters was tested by the October fire at ZPO 1. Their commander evaluates the intervention as follows: "The intervention was indeed very demanding, the layout of the space is very rugged in this operation and a significant role was played by large smoke, which is a really difficult combination. Upon arrival and finding out the circumstances, the contact person informed us that one employee was not located and therefore it was necessary to search for the person. Of course, saving a person is a priority and the whole tactics of intervention are changing. Fortunately, the employee was in a place that was safe for him at the time. We evacuated him through a heavily smoky area, with breathing apparatus on and a mask on his face. Fortunately, it all turned out well. In total, more than 30 firefighters intervened in two shifts. Although the fire was difficult, we dealt with it on our own. In case of a second trip, we called the firefighters of the Fire Brigade from Šaca. They didn't interfere, they were just ready if something happened."

What news do they plan to surprise the next ones with? "We have a relatively large amount of equipment, for the number of people. We therefore need to optimise the vehicles. For example, we would like to solve a new monitoring system in our monitoring vehicle.  There are several options and we are currently working on the most suitable solution. In any case, I would be happy if a technical solution was found that would contribute to the safety of the intervening firefighters. However, it is not a one-year project, it will certainly take longer," said Benjamín Brandis.