This week, Rescue Board became the first among agencies to reveal its reaction capacities: how fast, under usual circumstances, will fire brigades reach every corner of Estonia.
How timely is urgent help?
31st March 2015, 13:44
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The morning of December 4th, 2014. In Jõepera Village at Lake Peipsi, a lonesome chimney is staring at the rainy skies. The ground around it is all black; here and there a coal still smoulders. The four bodies buried under ash belong to guys who sat down, in the late evening hours, to down some vodka in candle light.
For the rescuers, this is the textbook case – a site with no eyewitnesses, no smoke detector, open fire used, alcohol consumed.
Having ratified its new internal security development plan this February, interior ministry did decide to take steps towards enhancing diligence. Starting yesterday, on Rescue Board website, all may check how far fire engines will reach from closest fire-fighting unit under usual circumstances in five, ten, and fifteen minutes, and which are the areas it takes up to 30 minutes to arrive. Also, each unit’s precise capacity is cited – from the number of fire-fighters on duty to the existence of tank vehicle or lifeboat.
Faster than neighbours
Thus, the map reveals that even with the Jõepera fire detected immediately, it would have taken fire brigade from Räpina 20 minutes to get there – not necessarily enough to save the lives of men asleep on sofas with cigarettes in hand.
Also outside the 15 minute range are large parts of Saaremaa and Pärnu County, northern coast of Lake Võrtsjärv, the region between Tartu and Põlva, and Pandivere Uplands. Meanwhile, practically all of Estonia accessible by roads us covered by within-thirty-minutes rescue capability.
According to Rescue Board rescue works department head Heiki Soodla, the reaction speed zones are calculated according to GMP data. Not a hard-and-fast rule, that is – weather conditions and other such challenges do play a role.
«The network and time zones are according to ideal conditions – that is when the vehicle is physically at the unit,» said Mr Soodla. However, the alarm centre showing location of fire trucks in real time, in some areas these may arrive faster – all depending where the vehicle is at.
Important also to differentiate whether the closest rescue commando is public or volunteer. In the first case, the team needs to be on the road in one minute; in the latter, departure may take up to 15 minutes.
No cause to panic, though – actually, Estonia has nothing to be ashamed of regarding rescue capacity. Last year, a public rescue team reached accident site in the average of 8 minutes and 53 seconds. This is better than in Finland, Latvia and Norway. The 15 minute red line was kept in 93 percent of the calls.
For that very reason, Mr Soodla says people need not base the location of new home on their map. In low density areas, says he, the possibility to be set aflame is actually lower: a fire from neighbours cannot spread as fast.
Also, the rescuers are getting more effective. «In our tactics, we have become more aggressive. We are trying to cut preliminary actions time as short as possible. For instance, for initial response we no longer have to roll out the hoses, using foam extinguishers. Also, with infrared cameras, we are able to find victims in the smoke dozens of times faster,» related Mr Soodla.
Let others learn
According to interior ministry rescue and crisis regulation policy department head Priit Laaniste, disclosure of reaction times is aimed to be honest towards the people and motivate them to think about preventive measures.
«If people wish to go dwell in some lonesome place, they may look and check how fast the state will reach them. For instance, how fast will they reach summer homes,» he suggested.
The initiative is not a global first. In Lapland and Alaska, rescue teams arrival times are up on public posters.
The rescue map published yesterday is but the first step, for Estonia: by end of May, Rescue Board in cooperation with Police and Border Guard Board will try and disclose a similar rescue map related to water bodies.
The rescue times not public knowledge, Mr Laaniste thinks the other public agencies might follow suit. «Rescue Board is just one example. The same might be shown by emergency medical care, police, and why not other services,» he sugested.