Rescue communication system offered by Sevitel at rescuers’ tests in Croatia.
Between 28 April and 2 May 2023, a bilateral cooperation between Polish cave rescuers Cave Rescue Group (GRJ) and rescuers of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) took place in Croatian Paklenica, with a presentation of the SWAR2EX system.
In the Kita Gaćešina resort, a team of Croatian-Polish rescuers made a successful attempt to bring to the surface a person trapped in the “Vrata Percepcije” cave (depth -120 m) the rescue operation lasted 4 hours. The exceptionally short time taken to free the victim from the cave was due to the efforts of the well-trained rescuers and the SWAR2EX rescue communication system from Sevitel Sp. z o.o., which performs extremely well in extreme conditions.
To quote the words of the rescuers including the one responsible for communications:
[…] The exercises did not include advanced medical simulation – we focused on perfecting transport techniques and testing the new wireless communication system. During the exercise, we were all able to see that the concept based on densely spaced, small-sized repeaters worked very well.
[…] it can be successfully concluded that the tested system will revolutionise the approach to cave rescue. It provides constant contact with selected or even all members of the rescue operation throughout the line of action and outside the cave. Our first impressions are very positive, the system still needs some cosmetic improvements, which we are already working on. The bigger problem to be solved will be a change in the approach to cave action, drastically increasing the amount of precise information about the participants in the action, and the possibility of communication between participants, making the action take on a character similar to a difficult action on the surface.
After the exercises and subsequent detailed presentation of this communication system, Croatian speleologists announced that they would take steps towards purchasing our rescue communication system. From the message of the rescuers, we know about the great interest in the SWAR2EX system also in other countries.
Sources of information and photos:
https://www.hgss.hr/suradnja-hrvatskih-i-poljskih-spasavatelja-u-podrucju-speleospasavanja/#slider-1
