The 30-hour drill simulated a lifelike disaster situation caused by a heavy storm and aimed to test first-aid skills, higher-level healthcare services, psychosocial support, search for missing persons as well as water and technical rescue efforts. One of the tasks was to rescue festival-goers in an “altered state of consciousness”.
Red Cross staff had a complex 30-hour disaster response drill on Szalki Island, Dunaújváros. The event was attended by the employees and volunteers of the Hungarian Red Cross as well as Red Cross staff from Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia.
The drill simulated a disaster caused by a heavy storm and hail. According to the scenario, the island was stricken by a storm, hail and high wind in the early hours of the day and the resulting flood caused damage to bridges and disrupted communication between the different parts of the island. Numerous buildings were destroyed, part of the infrastructure was down. Many people were injured and several were lost in the storm. A large number of “dazed festival-goers” were trapped in an isolated part of the island.
After the command center was set up, mixed groups of Hungarian and international Red Cross staff got down to work. Their tasks included evacuation, shelter operation, food supply, damage assessment, aid delivery in extreme field conditions, water rescue, line search for missing persons, rescue dog search, as well as first aid and psychosocial support. They had to take care of victims played by volunteer actors on the site and safely transport them to the mobile hospital set up in a village.
A strategic partner to the Hungarian Red Cross for five years, Telenor provided the technical support and infrastructure required to satisfy the increased communication demand of the simulated disaster situation.
“Residential telecom needs typically show a steep rise in a disaster situation and the network demand of on-site rescue teams also needs to be satisfied by the affected mobile cell. The situation can be aggravated if local base stations are also damaged by the disaster. Being a strategic partner to the Hungarian Red Cross, we have to be prepared for any eventuality to be able to provide the critical network support in a potential disaster. This drill was about teamwork and enabled us to demonstrate the seamless operation of our network in a disaster situation”, said dr. Győző Drozdy, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Telenor Hungary.
“The annual disaster preparedness and response drill allows us to enhance the efficiency of disaster support, one of the core activities of the Hungarian Red Cross. With the joint drill, we also want to highlight the importance of collaboration with partner organizations as we need to closely cooperate both with our Hungarian partners and international Red Cross staff in real-life disasters as well”, said Brigitta Sáfár, Head of Disaster Management of Hungarian Red Cross.