The original article can be found here on Austrian Wings.
Photo Report on Emergency Exercise Alpha 10 at Graz Airport
This year's emergency exercise at Graz Airport was held under the motto "What to do when the danger is not visible?". Alpha 10 was dedicated to a topic that had not yet been practiced in this form at Graz Airport: potential infection with a highly contagious disease.
Comprehensive emergency exercises are conducted every two years at international airports to review emergency plans. Most of these involve complex aircraft accidents. However, those responsible at Graz Airport and their partners also dedicate these exercises to other potential dangers to gain new insights and thus ultimately be prepared for a variety of different events.
In commercial aircraft, many people come together in a confined space - sometimes for many hours. This allows pathogens to spread worldwide within a few hours. Authorities, emergency services and medical facilities therefore regularly train how to deal with such scenarios. The experiences from the Corona pandemic are also incorporated into the training.
The organization of the exercise was carried out by Graz Airport, with Emergency Manager and Head of Fire Department Ewald Hauptmann playing a key role. Two special teams - the Styrian HITT (High Infection Transport Team) and the HRI Team from Carinthia (High Risk Infection Team) - took part. They trained in the rescue and care of highly infectious patients from a commercial aircraft provided by Avanti Air. Special equipment is required for the transport of such patients. This equipment was supplied by the company CBRN.ZONE - founded by Dr. med. David Gabriel, a trained professional pilot himself and known in aviation circles for the project "Med on Board". CBRN stands for "chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear" hazards. "The patients were safely isolated and transported in the so-called BIO-BAG," emphasizes Dr. Gabriel, highlighting the importance of modern protective equipment in such situations.
Andreas Weitlaner, District Commissioner Graz-Umgebung, explains: "Exercises of this kind serve to practice the cooperation of the various emergency organizations among themselves, but also with the responsible authorities and the airport. It is therefore important and sensible to practice a wide variety of hazard situations in order to be optimally prepared for an emergency."
"Safety does not arise only in an emergency, but through preparation, training and trust," confirms Antonio Cuomo, pilot and Head of Sales at Avantiair. "At Avantiair, we work daily to improve our processes; this exercise is an important part of that."
Prof. Dr. Kai Wulf, President of the Austrian Society for CBRN and Medical Biodefence: "While there are many defined procedures for treating highly infectious patients, there are no globally standardized and certified processes. We want to change this by founding the professional society. In addition, this platform should serve experts who want to network across organizations and countries."
Dr. Gabriel adds: "In the CBRN field, there are 3 important pillars: knowledge, equipment and training. In addition, interfaces between processes and organizations play an immensely important role. This includes, for example, the division and observance of defined areas (e.g., danger, decontamination, safety areas), which could be optimally implemented in this exercise. It's not just about providing good care for affected patients and transporting them safely, but primarily about preventing further contamination on site."
Valentin Krause, Red Cross, emphasizes: "The Red Cross is there to help - in everyday life as well as in extraordinary situations. For people to be able to rely on quick and coordinated help in an emergency, regular joint exercises under the most realistic conditions possible are necessary. This is exactly what large-scale exercises like this achieve."
"We have a special alarm plan for such an emergency, which has been coordinated with the responsible authorities," explains Jürgen Löschnig, Managing Director of Graz Airport. "However, such a scenario differs fundamentally from most other emergency scenarios, especially with regard to responsibilities and the interaction of the various authorities and emergency organizations. Therefore, we have been eager to conduct an exercise on this topic for some time."
A big thank you goes to the German airline Avantiair, which provided an aircraft for a particularly realistic exercise environment.
Overall, around 200 people participated in the exercise.
The exercise scenario
A team of researchers from the Biotechnisches Foroza Institute in Vienna is researching a new vaccination method against Ebola in Central Africa. As the situation on site is radically worsening due to a current outbreak of the deadly disease, the team is evacuated back to Vienna. Avanti Air provided a Bombardier Q400 for the fictional flight. The flight time is approximately nine hours. After about seven hours, the air traffic control is informed of a medical emergency involving two passengers. As the health condition of the two individuals is acutely deteriorating, the aircraft is diverted to Graz to provide medical care to the affected persons as quickly as possible. Graz TWR air traffic control informs the duty ADM (Airport Duty Manager) at 1:00 PM local time about the medical diversion. The landing takes place at 1:20 PM in Graz.
The objectives:
- Review of:
- Alarm plan 5 "Threat situation infection" of Graz Airport
- Alarm chain
- Locations: Aircraft parking position, emergency gate infection, new premises for the command staff and emergency information center
- Passenger data collection
- Care for suspected cases
- Passenger care
- Training on correct and quick donning of protective equipment, setting up a decontamination station, handling an incubator (High Infection Transport Team)
- Interaction, communication between authorities, emergency organizations and Graz Airport
The exercise focuses particularly on protection: How must all participants behave? What protective equipment must they use to protect themselves and ultimately the public from a dangerous and highly contagious disease?
"Thanks to all participating partners and employees, we were able to successfully complete the exercise with new important insights that will be incorporated into future emergency planning," says Jürgen Löschnig with satisfaction.
Participants:
- Graz Professional Fire Department
- Austrian Red Cross
- Styria Provincial Police Directorate
- Graz Airport Border Police Inspectorate
- Styria Provincial Warning Center
- Graz-Umgebung District Administration
- Graz City Health Department/Disinfection Institute
- External observers (BMIMI, ÖRK)
- Styria Crisis Intervention Team
- Graz Airport
- CBRN.ZONE