If there is a fire in Winterthur’s old town, a large contingent of emergency services from the Winterthur city police, the Winterthur rescue service and Schutz & Intervention Winterthur will be deployed. The emergency was practiced on Monday.
On November 11, 2024, the respective managers trained how this interaction between the emergency services and civil protection organizations works using a fire scenario in Steinberggasse.
Events in which the emergency services of the Winterthur City Police, the Winterthur Rescue Service and the Winterthur Protection & Intervention are called out occur frequently in the city of Winterthur. It is therefore essential for incident management that the various emergency services “speak the same language” and have common standards. These are developed or deepened in joint leadership training courses between the three partner organizations using various scenarios. After the initial training last May, a second training with a practical part took place on Monday. This cross-organizational learning process is intended to strengthen cooperation when dealing with complex operations.
Common operational language On Monday morning, the participants analyzed a past large-scale operation, particularly at the operational management level. The guidelines for action that have already been established were also discussed. This involves, among other things, a common management structure and cross-organizational follow-up. Standards and a common language are essential for this.
Fire scenario in the old town The practical part followed in the afternoon. The alarm message read “Fire in the old town of Winterthur” and triggered a large response from the fire department, police, emergency services and civil defense. Now the overall police operations managers and the operations managers of the partner organizations were called upon. Under the observation of numerous interested passers-by, they had to work together to ensure a well-organized and efficient operation: the challenge was to overcome the challenging situation as quickly and safely as possible.
After the work was done, the exercise management came to a fundamentally positive conclusion. A detailed evaluation of the exercise will show where the common standards are already effective and where action is needed.
Source of the police message: Winterthur City Police
