Did you know that if a building collapses and you’re trapped under debris, the best thing to do is to listen carefully for rescuers, then make small, deliberate noises or slight movements to signal that you’re alive?
Search and rescue teams use highly sensitive devices such as the Delsar Life Locator, which detects the faintest human sounds — breathing, tapping, even a muffled voice — that would otherwise go unheard.
This was one of the emergency response demonstrations at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) during the launch of its state-of-the-art rescue simulation centre on Friday.
Conceptualised by Connor Hartnady, a lecturer in the university’s department of emergency medical care, the project took a decade to finalise due to interruptions such as the Fees Must Fall protests and the Covid pandemic.
Another stumbling block was legislation. “There are currently no regulations in South Africa that govern this type of equipment,” said Hartnady. “We needed to apply different components from occupational health and safety, law and regulations, and from mining law and regulations and standards. So a company called CRN had to come up with a methodology that they were able to present to the department of labour in the design to say that this is why it would be safe for human load.”
The centre has a 5m-deep survival pool for aquatic and helicopter underwater egress training; a helicopter fuselage suspended 15m above the pool, allowing both wet and dry hoist operations; and rotor-wing aircraft safety and patient-care simulation zones. It is also fitted with a basement which houses an urban search and rescue area with configurable confined space tunnels, shoring systems and heavy lifting jigs, along with a 30-seater aircraft fuselage for mass casualty simulations.
It also has a 3m-deep trench rescue simulator and advanced environmental systems capable of generating rain, wind, waves and darkness, creating an immersive, high-stress environment that replicates real-life conditions.
UJ vice-chancellor Letlhokwa Mpedi said the centre would provide quality training and certification that will be accessible to emergency practitioners outside the university.
“It is quite an exciting component,” Mpedi said. “With this project, you don’t have to go to the sea to train people. Imagine the savings and how we can have an impact cost-effectively. We don’t have similar rescue centres accessible on the African continent,” Mpedi said.
Asked how much the project cost, he said it was a “couple of million”, adding that when it comes to safety, cutting corners is not an option. “It’s not about having shiny toys, but you’re not saving costs, you’re costing lives. This is something that we need to insist on. You can have the best equipment, the best of the best in terms of the people who can train the best.”
Explaining how a water rescue simulation was conducted in real-time, “survivors” were in the pool during a recreation of heavy currents at sea. Craig Vincent-Lambert, vice-dean of teaching and learning at the faculty of health sciences, said this was groundbreaking.
“Let’s say you’re stuck at sea during a storm. This simulation shows a helicopter crane that can fly anywhere inside the sea. It can land, and rescue can begin. We can even create the wind that you would get from a real helicopter. When an aircraft has a problem and it’s over water — called ditching — we can teach how an emergency water landing can be done.”
Vincent-Lambert said that recent incidents such as the George building collapse had highlighted the importance of rescue education. “Rescues are significant, but they don’t come around every day, thankfully. So you have to teach students in a way that is as realistic as the real thing.”
Hartnady said the centre has been established at a time when “natural hazards are increasing, urbanisation is evolving rapidly, and emergencies are becoming more complex. This centre prepares responders not only for South African conditions but also for challenges across the continent.”
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