On Tuesday evening September 8, dozens of staff members from the regional fire service, ambulance services, the Red Cross and municipal emergency services will receive an emergency call: report to the TU/e campus immediately. Meanwhile, a large number of LOTUS casualties—trained actors from the Dutch National Training Program for Simulating Casualties—will be waiting in and around Vertigo to be treated.

The TU/e Fire Brigade is participating in and co-organizing the exercise. Dave Pashouwers, a member of the TU/e Fire Brigade, doesn’t yet know exactly what the emergency responders will encounter. “It has to be a surprise.”

He does know why Vertigo was chosen as the training location for the regional emergency services. “Facilities staff member Tom van Aarle also leads exercises for the TU/e Fire Brigade. He knows the building, he knows us, and he knows what the exercises are intended to achieve. Vertigo’s wide variety of spaces offers plenty of opportunities for drills.”

A major operation

It also helps that the building is located at the corner of the campus. This means the rest of the TU/e grounds will experience little disruption from fire engines, ambulances and other emergency vehicles. “The organizers will stage part of the scenario in the concrete laboratory and on the first floor. With thirty LOTUS actors covered in fake blood, it will be quite a spectacle.”

The Brabant-Zuidoost Safety Region has conducted exercises on the TU/e campus before, but it has been several years. “Large-scale” exercises are always held in places where many people gather, such as train stations or football stadiums. The exercises test communication and cooperation between the various emergency services, as well as their ability to deal with large numbers of people.

The exercise in Vertigo will take place on the evening of Tuesday, September 8, from 18:00 to 22:00. “At 18:00 p.m., the LOTUS actors will get ready, and at 19:00 p.m. emergency responders in the region will receive an emergency call. We hope it will be an instructive evening.”

Would you like to take part in the exercise as a spectator or extra? Send an email to the TU/e Fire Brigade.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.