On May 19, 2006, the European Master in Disaster Medicine (EMDM)
held its annual mass-casualty exercise. VSL was contracted by the Civil Protection Authorities in the Valle d’Aosta
region to document the exercise and support the after-action review.
The exercise took place inside the 4.7-kilometer Côte de Sorreley tunnel in Aosta, Italy.
The scenario was a multiple vehicle accident with a fire.
Fire-rescue and emergency medical units responded from the whole Valle d’Aosta region.
105 victims were on the scene when the first responders arrived. You can
download the key locations
of the exercise as a Google Earth file (.kmz).
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The Rapid Intervention Teams entered the tunnel from both ends. Guided by thermal-image camera, they defied the darkness and smoke in the tunnel and drove directly to the burning vehicles in a straight-to-the-heart strike to put out the fire. After extinguishing the fire and ventilating the smoke, the Fire Commander declared the scene safe.
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The rescue personnel started to extricate victims from the vehicles, and ambulances with doctors and Red-Cross personnel entered the tunnel.
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The medical personnel started triage and first aid, to prepare the patients for safe transportation out from the tunnel. At the south and north tunnel entrances, the rescue personnel deployed advanced medical posts to provide emergency care.
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Ambulances shuttled patients from the tunnel to the advanced medical posts. Other ambulances transported the most critically injured patients to nearby hospitals. Patients with moderate and minor injuries awaited transportation at the advanced medical posts, supervised by Red-Cross personnel.
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The exercise lasted from 4 pm to 8 pm. After the exercise, all data were compiled and organized using CITE® Studio. The next morning, EMDM students, firefighters, and Red-Cross personnel gathered for an after-action review. The evaluation was led by Martijn Boosman from our partner E-Semble in the Netherlands.
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