Terroristische aanslag wordt nagebootst om grensoverschrijdende reddingsoperaties te testen (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Uitvoerend Agentschap Onderzoek (REA) i, gepubliceerd op maandag 23 september 2013.

A research group supported by almost €13 million in EU funds will be coordinating a mock rescue operation in the framework of a terror attack drill. The exercise is planned for this Wednesday in a ferry terminal close to a chemical factory in Stavanger, Norway, and is designed to improve new technologies for rescue operations.

Medical teams, police units and fire brigades will be mobilised during the exercise, simulating real case mass destruction scenarios. Additionally, the Red Cross will be participating alongside the Norwegian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

The scenario will be that of a terrorist attack, with many hypothetical 'victims’, some of which will be trapped under debris, requiring medical attention on the spot and evacuation to local hospitals. Those who survive the simulation explosion with second and third-degree burns will be fictionally sent to medical centres in Manchester (UK) and Copenhagen (Denmark). The police will have to secure the area and coordinate rescue efforts in order to fight the terrorists at the scene.

This exercise is being organised by an €18-million research project named Bridge, which is supported by almost €13 million in EU funds for research, and is expected to continue until March 2015. The Bridge team will work towards streamlining cross-border rescue operations by developing new technologies for the collection, analysis and sharing of real time data, supporting emergency-related decision making in the years to come. The consortium includes Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, British, Dutch, German, Austrian and Swiss partners.

The resulting new technology is expected to give an effective and efficient response to natural catastrophes, technological disasters and large-scale terrorist attacks.

The project is managed by the Research Executive Agency, a funding body of the European Commission, and already caught the attention of NRK TV, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, in April this year.