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Fire drill on a pleasure boat in the Marina Palamos marina

Civil Protection of the Generalitat and Marina Palamos organized the morning of April 10 a fire drill on a pleasure boat with two people on board and a fuel spill.

The fire was detected during a routine inspection by a sailor, who immediately alerted the port office. From there, the emergency protocol was activated: 112 of Catalonia was called, the dock staff was notified, the Palamos Local Police was notified and, finally, the emergency was communicated to the Emergency Coordination Center of Catalonia (CECAT) of Civil Protection.

In the simulated scenario, one person was trapped inside the vessel and the other fell into the water. During the response tasks – such as the removal of nearby vessels and the placement of anti-pollution barriers – one member of the port’s first responder team was injured with burns and smoke inhalation.

The exercise served to test and evaluate our Self-Protection Plan (PAU) and the Maritime Interior Plan (PIM), as well as to check the coordination between the different resources involved.

Participation of the operatives

Firefighters of the Generalitat participated in the drill with two water vehicles, an automatic ladder and a light coordination and command vehicle, with a total of 12 firefighters.

Upon arrival at the scene of the incident, they found a fire in one of the boats moored in the port and three people injured; two in the boat, one of them in the water, and a third injured person on the dock.

Firefighters extinguished the fire, rescued the injured persons and contained the fuel spill in the harbor road.

The Emergency Medical System (SEM) was in charge of providing medical assistance during the drill, with 3 affected, 1 serious, 1 less serious and 1 minor. When the alert came in through 112, the Health Coordination Center of the SEM (CECOS) activated two units, a basic ambulance and an advanced ambulance. Once attended, those affected were transferred to different health centers, depending on their severity. Thus, the seriously injured was transferred to the Hospital Universitario Josep Trueta, and the other two to the Hospital de Palamós.

The objectives of the SEM in this drill were to form an evaluation cell and analyze the initial management of an incident of these characteristics, the participation in the creation of the tactical objectives together with the other operational groups, the evaluation of the communications with the CECOS, as well as to know the access routes to the Port and their characteristics. A total of 9 professionals participated, including 4 from the assistance units, 2 from CECOS and 3 from the Multi-Affected Incident (MAPI) working group.

The Mossos took over the functions of the order group, controlling the accesses and establishing security perimeters, in coordination with the Local Police of Palamós. Its Maritime Unit managed the access to the entrance of the port, thus reinforcing the control of the affected area.

The Local Police was the first body to arrive at the scene, cordoning off the area and facilitating the entry of emergency vehicles. They also acted as part of the order group, working side by side with the Mossos d’Esquadra.

Civil Protection of the Generalitat counted with the participation of the technician of the territorial services in Girona.

An essential training to ensure safety

This type of exercise is essential to ensure that our facilities, equipment and personnel are properly prepared to respond effectively to any type of emergency in the port with maximum efficiency.

In addition, it has allowed us to verify the operational coordination between the different emergency services involved, whose work is essential in any real emergency.

Once the drill was over, each participating emergency corps carried out an individual analysis of its intervention, followed by a joint meeting in which the overall development of the exercise was evaluated.

The simulation exercise and the subsequent evaluation session represent a valuable opportunity to reinforce collaboration between the different emergency services, promoting a joint, efficient and well-coordinated work environment that increases the capacity to respond to real situations.