An exercise testing the German Public Safety Digital Radio network (BDBOS) was performed on 16 April at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport, which is still under construction. It used a scenario in which a packed plane and a bus collide.
The MANV 500 exercise is the largest to date for the state of Brandenburg and simulated 500 casualties and involved 1,400 field personnel. BDBOS commented that its TETRA network was “a great contribution to the success of the exercise”. Preparations started in April 2014 to counter an increase in plane, train and road transport.
The authority body Digital Radio Brandenburg (ASBB) was closely involved in the exercises preparations and faced challenges in drawing up the communication plan due to the high number of participating emergency services and call groups. The exercise used a total of 13 groups for trunked mode operation (TMO) of the network and 22 groups for direct mode operation (DMO) to ensure the management and coordination of forces.
BDBOS stated that: “Those in charge are very satisfied with the training course. The use of communication via digital radio BOS worked as intended. The digital radio has proven itself for the use situation of a mass attack of casualties with 500 affected as a reliable means of communication for the forces of the emergency services and civil protection.”
Image credit: BDBOS
