Wednesday, June 5
Crisis actors: 900 people “injured” in simulated attack on Berlin
Next weekend sees the first Berlin game of Euro 2024, and authorities are preparing for the worst. That’s why, starting at around 8pm on Tuesday evening, one hospital in Friedrichshain began to receive a large number of patients suffering from gunshot wounds and burns from explosions. The twist? These were actually actors playing the role of injured victims in order to help the city’s emergency personnel prepare for a crisis scenario.
The emergency being simulated here was a terror attack on the “fan mile”, whereby the enormous dedicated area in front of the Brandenburg Gate for football fans to watch the games was attacked by militants armed with guns and explosives. The exercise assumed that around 900 people were injured, with around 120 patients falling into the “red” category – that is, suffering from life-threatening injuries.
These types of simulated attacks are a regular part of anti-terror and disaster control preparations, allowing health officials to monitor the emergency processes of a given facility. Do they have enough medicine and surgical supplies? How quickly are additional staff brought on-call? The hospital at which this scenario played out, the Vivantes Klinikum in Friedrichshain, is one of the most efficient in Berlin, treating 71,000 emergencies each year.
