The N4 RIMS (Road Incident Management System) committee from North West and Bojanala facilitated a simulated emergency exercise on the Bakwena N4 route at the Mooi Nooi Interchange as part of a Trans Kalahari Corridor, together with other stakeholders which included Imperial Logistics, Basella Maintenance, Netcare 911, ER24, Lonmin Mines, North West Traffic Department, SAPS, Madibeng/Rustenburg Fire and Emergency and North West Pathology/Forensic services.
This exercise forms part of the mandate to test the capabilities of the emergency services on the national road network, which ensures that incidents are attended to and managed in a quick, efficient manner. All objectives of the simulation were achieved and some valuable lessons learnt came out of bringing together the various services.
The simulation made use of a “crash” involving a tanker carrying sulphuric acid and a class 1 vehicle. There were four “injured” patients and one “fatality”. The scene was attended by all relevant emergency authorities timeously and treated as thought it was a “live’ crash site, which showcased Hazmats capabilities in treating an acid leak from the
tanker, which needed to be contained prior to ambulance/firefighting teams approaching the scene due to threat to their own lives from the acidic fumes and to prevent damage to the environment. While the incident was being managed, the SAPS and traffic authorities controlled the traffic at the scene to minimise the impact on traffic flow. A debriefing was held for all emergency personnel afterwards in order to determine in which areas improvements could be made in the management of such incidents on the route.
Liam Clarke, project manager at Bakwena, says that the simulation exercise is key to achieving Bakwena’s vision of zero fatalities along the N1N4 route. Road incident management continues to be a vital tool in dealing with crashes efficiently to maintain free traffic flow and ensure the safety of road users using the route. The exercise was attended by senior officials from Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
Bakwena would like to thank all role-players who attended the simulation exercise in a quick and efficient manner and is proud to be part of such a well co-ordinated system.