A fire in a railway or road tunnel can endanger many people within a short time. How many firefighters are needed for such an incident depends on many factors. Therefore, there is no across-the-board answer to the question: How much training does a fire service need for tunnel operations? Instead, a development process is necessary. Our guide shows the most important steps on the «pathway to your training», which fire services can also use for their meetings with the financing body.
Basic knowledge for the first steps of deployment preparation
Understanding the «tunnel challenge» is the basis for planning tunnel operations. We have summarized the basic knowledge in our publications «Firefighting Operations in Road Tunnels» and «Firefighting Operations in Railway Tunnels». In many cases, fire services book a complementary introduction by our training consultant in order to inform their team quickly and descriptively. This service is also available directly at the fire service's location. Representatives of the financing body and the political bodies can also participate to gain an understanding of the extent of this task.
The intervention concept is the first big hurdle
The respective tactics of a fire service must be based on parameters specific to the tunnel and the fire service. But which details are crucial, and what is the best procedure for a deployment? When the experts of the International Fire Academy support fire services in this development work, a workshop is the best way to do so: The experts do not provide a ready-made solution but support the fire service with their know-how in the process of developing the right solution for them.
In a joint session we develop a tailor-made offer for you
As soon as the intervention concept has been largely drawn up, our training advisors work together with the fire service to determine the specific training needs in an initial assessment of the location. It is the basis for our individual training and counselling offers. In addition, they can support fire services with questions on funding, limiting effort and training small groups of participants. The discussion will also clarify whether the training should address local peculiarities and what possibilities our training tunnel facilities offer in this regard. Our guide clearly outlines the individual steps.
Learning and experience worlds for operations in tunnels and underground car parks
Our guide also presents the learning and experience worlds at the International Fire Academy in a photo series. The impressions offer a small insight into the multitude of training situations in which the participants can gain operationally relevant experience. The participant's actions and experiences are thereby in the spotlight. The photos also convey to non-specialists how close to reality we train in order to compensate for the low operational practice in tunnels.
