València, 14-02-2019.- The Firemen of the Provincial Consortium of Valencia (CPBV) have been able to share and deepen on the techniques of intervention before the technological risks in the VI Technical Conference of Operative Intervention in Technological Risks, held this morning at the headquarters of the Port Authority of Valencia.

At the inauguration, the Head of Safety and Environment of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV); Federico Torres, has highlighted the need for training in this area for the activity around the port of Valencia and the rest of the port in general. The Chief Inspector of CPBV, José Miguel Basset, thanked all attendees for their presence and encouraged to continue participating in this group of experts.

During the meeting, the different technical guides published by the groups of the Workshop on Operational Intervention in Technological Risks, in which these days are framed, have been presented.

In this sense, Antonio Cabeza, of the Fire Department of Barcelona, has spoken about the procedures in fires before tanks of chemical products. “In this type of accidents firefighters of public services are not the first line of action. But it is necessary that they know what is being done and be able to direct the intervention. For this it must have some knowledge and therefore these operational guides are key” he said. “Future prospects go through the design of fire fighting equipment and vehicles to deal with these accidents. We still need to see how to apply extinguishing systems on the tanks themselves”.

Enrique Martínez, of the Madrid Fire Department, has detailed the biological risk guide. “The biological condition is continuous although many firefighters are not aware of them. We can find biological risk in decomposing bodies in homes, rescues in wells, Diogenes syndrome … It is therefore very important to know the decontamination process” he said.

For his part, Jorge Gonzalez, firefighters of the Madrid City Council, has insisted in “the importance of the first response” in the radiological risk and the presence of this in different scenarios, “such as dangerous good accidents and even terrorist attacks , with orphan source or not”. González has pointed out the possibility of the appearance of “radioactive material in unsuspected places”. The operational guide covers different scenarios, such as an incident on public roads with the presence of a radioactive source or an accident involving victims and the presence of a radioactive source.

Meanwhile, the commander of the UME, Luis A. Rodríguez Álvarez de Lara, stressed that it is “fundamental” the detection and identification of dangerous substances and that when in doubt, “firefighters must wear the best personal protection equipment, type 1”.

Miguel Albaladejo, of the Fire Service of Alcorcón, has presented the operative guide for intervention with specific substances. Chlorine and ammonia. “You have to know the product very well, as well as the usual places where they are used, mainly cooling plants or water treatment areas”. The document proposes different intervention techniques depending on the situation, acting on the content or on the continent.

The day that is celebrated throughout the day also talks about the risks after the transformation of chemical substances, by Jorge Verdú, of the ‘Universitat de València’. In addition, Juan Manuel Campayo and Alegría Montoro, from Hospital La Fe, will address the health response in radiological emergencies.

The meeting concludes with a technical table on Public / Private Collaboration in technological emergencies: lessons learned Collaboration between Firefighters of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Port of Tarragona. In the afternoon, a visit to the facilities of the Port of Sagunto is planned.