Exciting competitions and hard training: INTERSCHUTZ events at a glance

The world’s leading trade fair INTERSCHUTZ offers the latest developments for every spectrum of fire brigade, rescue services, civil protection and safety. In addition, many side events guarantee excitement, entertainment and training opportunities. No matter if you are participant or visitor, it is absolutely worth to be there when the FireFit European Championships, the new Hackthon@INTERSCHUTZ, the Holmatro Rescue Challenge and the S-GARD SAFETYTOUR take place in Hanover.  

FireFit European Championships

Above all, strength, physical condition and speed are required at the FireFit European Championships. This is where the best international firefighters compete at INTERSCHUTZ. The competitions will take place on all six days of the fair from 20 to 25 June between 9am and 5pm on the outdoor area. As in the previous year, the organizers expect starters from all over the world.

On the first four days, the qualifying for the European Championship takes place. The finals are then planned for Friday and Saturday. Every day there will be an honour for the best participants of the day. It starts with individual, tandem and relay categories. Five tasks have to be completed: With a fire hose on the shoulders, they have to climb the steps of the 12m-high HAIX Tower in full gear and with respiratory protection right after the start. Before it goes to the next task, another fire hose must be pulled up. At the next stops, the firefighters swing the hammer on the impact machine, go through a short slalom course, pick up a filled fire hose and extinguish a target fire before simulating the rescue of people in the final sprint and rescuing an 80kg doll to the finish. As it turned out, the elite in the competition can complete the entire course in less than two minutes.

The FireFit Championships have been held in Canada for almost 30 years. Following this example, the FireFit Championships Europe Tour offers a common competition format for firefighting sports throughout Europe. Here are two links for more information: firefit.com and firefit-europe.eu   

Hackathon@INTERSCHUTZ

With a hackathon initiated by the research projects SPELL and PAIRS on the subject of civil protection and civil protection, INTERSCHUTZ is receiving another young and innovative event – the Hackathon@INTERSCHUTZ.

SPELL and PAIRS are two research projects funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) to integrate artificial intelligence into deployment and situation management. That’s why the hackathon was established. It brings together hackers from all countries, professions and age groups. Together, they will be hacking exciting challenges for 40 hours (hall 19).

They are supported by various coaches. In the end, extraordinary and creative ideas, prototypes and business models are expected. The motto: 40 hours, six challenges, one goal: to shape the future of civil and disaster protection together. In total, there are prizes up to €5,000 to be won. The award ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, June 26 at 11am. Further information at: www.spell-plattform.de/hackathon

Holmatro Rescue Challenge

Twenty teams from 15 countries will demonstrate their skills in realistic rescue scenarios at the Holmatro Rescue Challenge. Using Holmatro’s new Pentheon tools, the aim is to salvage an injured patient from a modern BMW vehicle.

The exact scenario remains confidential until the start of the competition. A group of experienced jury members will assess the performance of the participants and select the overall winners of the event. The aim of the competition is to provide firefighters and rescue workers with a safe and realistic learning environment. Before putting their techniques into practice, each team receives training from Holmatro.

The second international Holmatro Rescue Challenge will take place from 20 to 24 June under the Expo roof in the middle of the exhibition grounds. In addition to the honour of winning the challenge, the best teams will be rewarded with Holmatro rescue tool sets worth a total of 50,000 euros. The best participants in the categories, best overall team, best technical team and best team spirit will be awarded. The award ceremony will take place on Friday, 24 June at 5pm. For more information, see www.holmatro.com/en/Rescuechallenge

S-GARD SAFETYTOUR

The S-GARD SAFETYTOUR is about deepening and practicing special firefighting techniques. For this purpose, the company S-GARD is setting up a large live training course on the outdoor area in front of Hall 17. 480 participants have the opportunity to register for the main event. Bookings are still possible at: www.s-gard.de/safetytour/interschutz/#lp-program. 

Under realistic conditions, various exercises have to be completed in small groups in order to be optimally prepared in an emergency. The programme is divided into two parts: the tasks in the mornings cover the entire fire brigade spectrum. Here, for example, it will be about firefighting on a specially prepared tank car of Deutsche Bahn. The teams operating at this point will have to deal with a flame up to 4m in size. In another exercise, the teams are concerned with ensuring the slipped load on a means of transport under difficult conditions. Participants will have to wear special protective equipment due to the risk of contamination. In addition, the use of practice foam leads to massive visual obstructions.

The deployment scenarios in the afternoon are from the field of technical assistance. The focus here is on fast, patient-oriented help – for example in the event of a live crash of a vehicle. Cases with e-vehicles are also part of the training. The participants will get to know the special characteristics of battery fires and how to extinguish them. This task is combined with a mechanical engineering accident. An exciting challenge that must be solved as a team in order to be able to transport the patient safely to a clinic.

The conditions of participation of the S-GARD SAFETYTOUR include that the firefighters must have completed basic firefighting training and respiratory protection training. In addition, a valid respiratory protection suitability G 26.3 is required. At the end, all participants will receive a confirmation of participation.

For visitors who want to slip into the role of a firefighter themselves, S-GARD offers various hands-on activities at INTERSCHUTZ, such as working with hydraulic rescue equipment or exercises to prevent contamination. These so-called ‘public tasks’ can be found in front of hall 17 during the entire duration of the trade fair.