From June 8th to 13th, the first practical staff training, „Rescue from the Heights (Summer Season)”, took place in the Czech Republic. This intensive training was organized as part of the Erasmus+ project No. 2025-1-CZ01-KA220-VET-000353523, titled „What does it take to become a safe firefighter?”.
The training brought together representatives and specialists from four partner institutions representing different European countries. Throughout the week, the international team worked shoulder to shoulder to improve their tactical and practical knowledge while adopting the best practices from European fire and rescue services.
The Republic of Lithuania and our school were represented at the training by Miglė Povilaitytė, Rafal Tankovič, and Gytis Stankevičius, Chief Specialists of the Practical Training Division, alongside Agata Kurlovič, Chief Specialist of the Training Division. These professionals worked shoulder to shoulder to complete demanding tasks.
The training was hosted and organized by the project partners – the Secondary School of Chemistry Pardubice (Czech Republic). The exercises brought together professionals from:
- The Faculty of Security Engineering at the University of Žilina (Slovakia),
- The State Fire and Rescue Service (Latvia),
- Firefighter Training School (Lithuania),
- Instructors from the host institution, the Secondary School of Chemistry Pardubice (Czech Republic).
The training week was thoroughly planned, presenting increasingly difficult challenges for the participants each day:
- June 8 (Monday): The international project team successfully arrived in the Czech Republic, fully prepared for intensive collaborative work.
- June 9 (Tuesday): The day began with basic preparation work and an analysis of safe equipment operation. The main focus was on the theoretical and practical mastery of the Single Rope Technique (SRT). Participants carried out individual climbing and high-angle rescue tasks. The host institution introduced safety standards and specialized equipment used in the Czech Republic. Participants performed a comparative analysis of rescue and climbing procedures applied across the partner countries and tested the Czech SRT methodology under real conditions.
- June 10 (Wednesday): The training moved to a mountainous area. After assessing the natural terrain and safety risks, participants performed individual victim rescue operations in static mode (climbing procedures for individual rescue, static mode). Each team member personally tested climbing, lifting, and lowering algorithms, simulating situations that required rapid decision-making.
- June 11 (Thursday): The exercises reached their peak as the teams transitioned to complex operations at high altitudes. Firefighters worked in joint international teams to execute rescues in dynamic mode (climbing procedures for joint rescue, dynamic mode). This required flawless communication and the ability to manage multi-component rope systems. Tasks were timed to simulate real incidents where the victim’s position requires constant adjustments to rescue systems during the operation.
- June 12 (Friday): On the final day, participants focused on summarizing their acquired knowledge and reflecting on their shared experiences. Discussions centered around the core question of the project: „What does it take to become a safe firefighter?”. Experts reached a unanimous conclusion: safety depends not only on high-quality technical equipment, but also on continuous situational awareness, strong psychological readiness, and strict adherence to established procedures.
To ensure project dissemination and visibility, video materials were filmed during the exercises. Interviews were conducted to highlight how the acquired experience and specific methodologies can be integrated into national fire and rescue services and applied in training future officers.
At the conclusion of the training, international certificates confirming the successful completion of the program were presented to all participants from the partner countries.
The strong connections established among Czech, Slovak, Latvian, and Lithuanian colleagues will serve as a solid foundation for future exchanges of best practices. This shared experience will be directly integrated into the final methodological materials of the „Safe Firefighter” project, ensuring that advanced high-angle rescue techniques reach firefighters across Europe.
Would you like to know how firefighters across Europe learn to manage extreme situations and ensure maximum safety during incidents? We invite you to follow and actively share the official „Safe Firefighter” social media accounts!
Here you will regularly find the most up-to-date information on the project’s progress, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and videos from international exercises, valuable expert advice, and methodological insights. Your support, shares, and engagement help this important safety message reach a broader audience of professionals and the general public.
Social Media Links:
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