The Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) training academy, in collaboration with a newly established rescue team from Polokwane, participated in a 24-hour simulation and evaluation exercise at the Leon Ferreira Fire Station from 13:00 on June 25 until the morning of June 26.
The simulation was based on a 7.6 magnitude earthquake (on the Richter Scale) that happened at around 13:00 in Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique.
The teams’ primary task was to perform search, rescue and recovery of 10 missing people under the collapsed concrete rubble.
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Evaluated students comprised the Polokwane Municipality rescue team and that of the CoE.
Because an emergency can happen when least expected, all students had to work through the cold night until they found ‘ and recovered all the ‘patients’.
They had to use all available resources at their disposal and display perseverance, dedication and skills to rescue or recover those entrapped under the rubble.
Some of the ‘patients’ used in the simulation were people (alive) while others were dolls.
The exercise evaluators were from the neighbouring cities of Tshwane and Johannesburg.
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Rescue team members from CoE, under the leadership of senior district manager Theresa Geldenhuys, assured the community of both municipalities they have quality service delivery in saving lives and properties.
The passion displayed by the evaluated students impressed representatives from the Southern African Emergency Services Institute (SAESI).
As the only professional body in the fire service fraternity in Southern Africa and registered under IFSAC, CJ Ferreira and Lulu Ferreira, administrative officers from SAESI, are still expecting more training and such exercises to take place to empower different fire services.
