2023-09-14 16:30:00
It is 11 a.m. this Thursday, the public funicular begins its descent from the thermal baths parking lot towards the center of Spa. But in the middle of the descent, at the steepest point, the latter gets stuck, with four people on board. GRIMP firefighters arrive in large numbers to rescue people by installing various safety ropes. Four people were evacuated, including one using a specific stretcher.
Fortunately, all this is just a much-needed exercise in case the funicular is in bad shape. “The main exercise here was to evacuate people who are stuck in an uncomfortable position, that is to say in the steepest part of the funicular, explains Captain Pascal Decerf, director of the VHP emergency zone forecasting service. With a cabin exposed to direct sunlight and where vital functions are extremely endangered.” Without, however, and obviously putting the volunteers of this Thursday in real danger. “The cabins are air-conditioned. But let’s imagine that there is no more power and the batteries are out of service… We must secure the area before sending our men and we have the right to find the most secure access points to rescue people. With some who are in good condition but also others who have less mobility or even disabilities or who have health concerns.”
The exercise took place in three phases. “There was first the progression then the evacuation. Finally, the firefighters looked at how to get the people down most easily. You should know that we have a path that is zigzag. But we check if it is more efficient to go back to the thermal baths with a kind of wheelbarrow where a person can be transported and which is called the “mule wheel”. Or to know if the GRIMP would not be easier to pull a straight line with ropes and go down to the center of Spa so that it is faster. And this depends on the emergency.”
Basically, the Thermes de Spa already have plans to put in place in the event of a problem. “The establishment has an internal emergency plan which takes into account the different possibilities. This exercise is a collaboration between the emergency zone and the establishment which says that the initial version of the plan dates from 2004. It has been updated since. But the firefighters’ equipment has evolved, as has the technology. As have the personnel. So it’s worth meeting once more before problems arise to be certain, if necessary, that we are all in good tune to provide effective assistance.”
With a big difference since 2004: the transition to an emergency zone for firefighters. “Before, we came from a municipal fire department but now, there is an advantage with moving to the zone: we will guarantee that we will have the personnel to do it and who will be technically competent. And this personnel has an obligation to train for all the risks that we may run in the area. So we win on all counts.”
For the GRIMP firefighters, even if the funicular maneuver is spectacular, it is “relatively simple. It is just complex because we are working in machinery. For the safety of people and teams, this is where the procedures are extremely important. But the work of GRIMP was not complicated in itself because they know do much more complicated things.
As for the balance sheet, it is “positive. We see that there is a good exchange with the establishment. I believe that everyone is up for a continuous improvement of partnerships to benefit from the most perfect security system possible for visitors.”
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