Kufstein exercise tests response to fire and traffic crash

More than 100 emergency responders took part in a disaster exercise in central Kufstein on Saturday, practising a response to a traffic crash and a fire in an apartment building, ORF reported.

Firefighters, the Red Cross, the Samaritans and, for the first time, Kufstein District Hospital participated. The exercise involved rescuing and treating several people injured in the simulated incidents. Residents were also invited to watch.

Thirty hospital staff triaged the injured, sorting them by the urgency of their injuries. Hospital medical director Peter Ostertag said initial assessments found the exercise had gone largely smoothly.

However, the review identified problems with radio and telephone communications in some areas, as well as issues with the alert list. Ostertag said there were details that could still be improved.