14 July 2022 | UNDSS Comms
The Security and Safety Service (SSS) in Vienna offered its staff an opportunity to refresh and improve their fire safety knowledge and skills. While the fact that the Vienna International Centre (VIC), where UN Vienna is based, has not experienced fire related emergencies is a great accomplishment, SSS Vienna wanted to make sure that its staff¡¯s abilities to respond to fire emergencies had not been dulled and their certifications are up to date.
Therefore, SSS Vienna organized an Advanced Level Fire-fighter Course (ALFFC) facilitated by the Center of Disaster Management and Civil Protection of Austria, from 16 to 21 May 2022, at the Fire and Rescue Training Centre in Tulln.
Thirteen security professionals from various UN duty stations in Beirut, Vienna, Bangkok, Geneva, West Sahara, Brindisi, Somali, Addis Ababa and Mali, benefited from high-level training on fire safety which equipped them with best practices and up-to-date knowledge, such as recognizing and identifying the codes pertaining to the UN dangerous goods list, making a proper fire risk assessment of a building according to the Austrian code of practice, understanding the Austrian Fire Brigade¡¯s structure and communicating with them in case of a joint intervention.
As future fire safety teams¡¯ leaders, they learned and demonstrated the required knowledge and skills to effectively conduct their duties.
Since completing the training, SSS Vienna staff have been more effective at identifying fire hazards during their patrol and at verifying equipment, as well being more aware of dangerous areas in the environment.
¡°It greatly helps us. Thanks to the training, we had the opportunity to understand the Austrian Fire Brigade¡¯s structure, how they operate and what can be expected from us in case of a collaboration during an intervention,¡± said Alexandru Daniel Anton, Senior Security Officer.
The course addressed fire safety guidelines, plans, standard operating procedures and showed participants how to identify fire hazards and how to use personal protective equipment, extinguishing procedures and agents-selection, calculations and management to prevent fires; structural expertise for operations; operational expertise for firefighting; mitigating measures as well as management of leadership, instruction and performance. The training included interactive multimedia lectures, hands-on instruction and real-life fire exercises.