Emergency rescue – a race against time

(CS/ArWa) Luxembourg and German emergency services this weekend pushed themselves to the limit at the 2014 Trauma & Rescue Challenge, rehearsing different scenarios against the clock.

Among the scenarios in which the teams competed were a severe accident between two cars, with an injured person stuck in one of the cars, as well as an inline skater suffering serious injuries in a fall.

While the rescue challenge usually follows a similar scenario, for the trauma challenge, patients suffer from a number of different injuries, such as burns, electric shock, drowning, falling from great heights or suffering an amputation injury.

Team work, patient care, planning and ensuring safety on site are among the priorities emergency services need to work on to ensure a swift rescue on the ground.

Among the assessment criteria are communication within the teams of two, as well as use of the material and efficiency. The teams have 10 minutes to complete their challenges.

The event hosted in Ettelbrück this weekend, organised by the Luxembourg Rescue Organisation, was the national leg of the World Rescue Challenge, which takes place this year from October 9 to 12 in Moreton-in-Marsh in the UK.

Among its aims it not only to test the teams, but also to enable exchange between different countries and methods of emergency work.

In Luxembourg, teams from Echternach, Junglinster, Mamer, Pétange/Bascharage and Samen took part, as well as teams from Gündig and Lotte in Germany.

The judges are experts from England, Ireland and Germany.

For results and more information visit lro.lu