On Wednesday, 2 April at 10 a.m., the new breathing apparatus training facility (ASÜ) will go into operation at Fire and Rescue Station 3, Jagdschänkenstraße 53. After Mayor Knut Kunze has symbolically handed over the key, firefighters from the station will give a practical demonstration of a stress exercise.
Representatives of the media are invited to attend.
The breathing apparatus training facility consists of several rooms in which realistic operational conditions under breathing apparatus can be simulated. These include a fitness room, the control centre, a training room with an orientation route, an airlock, the finish room, washing and changing rooms, a first aid room and a training room. The exercise exercises are monitored and controlled from the control centre. The simulation can also be switched off and the lighting and smoke extraction switched on from there in an emergency.
Breathing apparatus wearers are obliged to complete one exercise and one operational exercise per year (in accordance with FwDV 7). This is not only for fitness and routine purposes, but also to ensure that each respirator is up to the demands of respiratory protection operations.
In addition to colleagues from the professional fire brigade and the 15 volunteer fire brigades of the city of Chemnitz, more than 15 external fire brigades regularly train at the ASÜ. The construction of the new respiratory protection training facility by the Dräger company cost around 210,000 euros, of which around 163,000 euros are subsidies from the Free State.
Background:
Respiratory protection is one of the most demanding and dangerous tasks in the fire service. Fire, smoke, extreme temperatures and poor visibility pose major physical and psychological challenges for the emergency services. In an ASÜ, the emergency services learn to recognise their stress limits, avoid panic and move safely through smoke-filled or confined spaces. This minimises the risk of accidents.
During the entire exercise, the pulse is monitored via a transmitter and displayed to the instructor in real time. This ensures the safety of the user so that the exercise can be cancelled if necessary. This allows performance deficits to be identified and an individually adapted training programme to be created. The exercise programmes are stored digitally and are started user-specifically using a transponder on the respective work measuring device and the orientation route. The system automatically recognises whether a user falls into the 18 to 49 years or 50 to 80 years category. The age categories are assigned performance values that must be achieved for a successful run.