More than 14,000 students from all schools in Torrevieja simultaneously took part in a seismic emergency drill on Thursday, which was carried out on the 195th anniversary of the earthquake that occurred in the Vega Baja in 1829.
The exercise also involved more than 100 members of the Local Police, Civil Guard, Fire Department, SAMU, Red Cross and Civil Protection and was organised by the Torrevieja council.
Many members of the public were on have to witness the simulation, especially in the area around the Plaza de la Constitución, where several tents and a field hospital were set up by the health services to attend to the numerous injuries caused by the earthquake in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
For the drill, an advanced command post was also set up on Paseo Vista Alegre, from where everything was coordinated and recorded.
Control centres were also established in two educational centres, CEIP Nuestra Señora del Rosario and IES Mediterráneo, where rescues were carried out in accordance with what would be expected following a catastrophe of this type. In addition, a failure in communications was also simulated, something that could be expected in a situation of similar characteristics.
In the IES Mediterráneo the operational sector carried out the rescues of three seriously injured, one of which was dealt with by medical resources, a second that was airlifted out in a helicopter and a third involving Civil Protection.
At the Nuestra Señora del Rosario school, a seriously injured person who was buried under rubble was located and rescued with a ‘sniffer’ dog, the injured person was immobilised on a stretcher and removed from the scene and transferred to the medical services.
In the simulation exercise taking place in the Church of the Immaculate Conception and the surrounding area, there were two deaths, 4 serious injuries and 10 minor injuries, all of which were dealt with in this seismic emergency drill.
One seriously injured person was rescued from a bell tower using a zip line, one seriously injured person was rescued using a board, one seriously injured person was rescued from under a concrete slab in front of the church (a lifting technique using pneumatic cushions) and one seriously injured person was rescued from inside the church (rescued using a board).
Finally, a spectacular emergency centre was organised in the Plaza de la Constitución with a field hospital and several tents to attend to all those injured in this earthquake drill.
