Successful exercise by the emergency services in the Jagdberg tunnel
The large-scale exercise of the emergency services in the Jagdberg highway tunnel, which took place from Saturday to Sunday (19/20 October 2024), was a success. Over 400 people took part in this extensive exercise, which was carried out by the Jena professional fire department together with the tunnel operator and other authorities and organizations with security tasks. The aim was to test and optimize the operational readiness and cooperation of the emergency services in the event of an emergency.
"This exercise was a valuable opportunity for us all to train under real conditions. The exchange and close cooperation with the other emergency services in particular showed how important joint exercises are in the event of an emergency," said incident commander John Großinger from the Jena professional fire department.
Fire departments from Jena and the Saale-Holzland district in action
The participating emergency services included the fire departments responsible for the tunnel from Jena and the Saale-Holzland district, disaster control units as well as emergency services, the freeway police and emergency doctors and senior emergency doctors from Jena University Hospital.
Realistic deployment scenarios and intensive training stations
The emergency services trained various scenarios at a total of 13 stations.
Fire department exercise scenarios
The extinguishing of vehicle fires was practiced at four stations. In the realistic firefighting scenarios, four gas fire appliances were used as fire points and extinguishing lines had to be set up over a distance of more than 100 meters. The fire engines used were positioned at different locations in and around the tunnel.
Two stations involved searching for and rescuing people. A traffic jam scenario was created for this purpose. The emergency crews had to systematically search the area and rescue the people they found quickly and effectively via a cross-passage (a connecting tube) into the unaffected tunnel tube. These stations were completed by the professional fire department and the volunteer fire departments of the city of Jena as well as the fire departments from the Saale-Holzland district.
Exercise scenarios for the rescue services, civil protection and air rescue services
The rescue services from Jena and the surrounding districts practiced dealing with a large number of injured people. The casualties were triage at two stations in a cross-cut. The aim was to determine treatment priorities based on the injuries, while the fire department constantly brought more injured people to a safe area.
Another station was dedicated to the prioritized transport of the injured to hospitals. Here, the rescue services worked together with the professional fire department, the volunteer fire department of the city of Jena and the disaster control services. DRF Luftrettung was also present with the intensive care transport helicopter Christoph Thüringen. This is the only rescue helicopter in Thuringia that is technically equipped to fly around the clock. It flies over 1,000 missions a year. Its participation was only possible because it was not called out to an emergency during the exercise.
Real fire test
A real fire test was also carried out at one station. The tunnel's stationary firefighting system had to be activated manually because a car was on fire. The technology was activated quickly and without any problems by the central operations control center so that the fire could be extinguished quickly. In addition, the smoke extraction system reliably ensured that the smoke was extracted in a controlled manner.
Training and testing of respiratory protection technology
Autobahn GmbH des Bundes used the closure to train its operational services, while the Bucha-Schorba fire department and other fire departments familiarized themselves with the special requirements for tunnel fires. Together with the Thuringian Ministry of the Interior and Municipal Affairs and the Suhl fire department, the Thuringian State Fire and Disaster Control School in Bad Köstritz carried out a series of tests with new breathing apparatus technology.
Realistic simulation with over 100 extras
Around 100 extras, including many students of human medicine at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, who acted as casualties with artificial wounds, provided the most realistic training environment possible. They were prepared and made up in detail in advance at Jena University Hospital.
Important contribution to safety in the Jagdberg tunnel
The exercise showed that the close cooperation between the emergency services works very well and that everyone involved is well prepared for possible emergencies in the Jagdberg Tunnel.
"This exercise was a significant step towards improving safety in the tunnel and an impressive example of cooperation between the various players. Many thanks to the Jena professional fire department for the good organization and to all the emergency services for their participation and commitment," emphasized Lord Mayor Thomas Nitzsche.
Closure of the A4 ended
For the exercise, the A4 was closed in both directions between the "Bucha" and "Jena-Göschwitz" junctions from 8 p.m. on Saturday until around 6 a.m. on Sunday. Local and long-distance detour were set up. Thanks to the closure during low-traffic times, there were no significant traffic obstructions.