A fictitious 15,000-seat stand has just collapsed at La Défense Arena. The victims are numerous, the emergency services must react urgently. This disaster did not actually occur but was the subject of a crisis simulation, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
Organized a little over a year from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, during which the enclosure located in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) will host the swimming and water polo events, the night exercise mobilized more 300 participants from various services, including firefighters, Samu, the Red Cross, Civil Protection, the police and the prosecution.
One hundred and fifty volunteer extras play the victims
The injured victims were “played” by 150 volunteer extras, made up and sometimes lying on the ground. Several went so far as to feign screams of pain. The deceased victims were represented by mannequins.
“As the Arena is a room that is difficult to access, we work regularly on intervention conditions to be able, if one day something happens, to rescue potential victims as quickly and efficiently as possible”, explains Sandra Guthleben, chief of staff to the prefect of Hauts-de-Seine, who piloted this large-scale simulation.
In the scenario imagined by the prefecture, the origin of the collapse is unknown, but a crowd movement caused many additional victims. A provisional report shows 17 deaths, including a child, about thirty people whose vital prognosis is engaged and 46 in so-called “relative” emergency.
Test the coordination between the different actors in the field
The victims are distributed according to the severity of the injuries and transported to a medical station within the compound itself, where they are identified. Evacuations then take place to the nearest hospitals using fire engines and ambulances.
In the meantime, the police and military have cordoned off the immediate surroundings of the stadium, near the Arche de la Défense, where concerts and Racing 92 rugby matches are usually held. place, the main challenge of the exercise is to test the coordination between the various players in the field.
“It is essential for us to know how to work with our partners from the Paris fire brigade and rescue associations to respect the chain of care for patients”, explains Thomas Loeb, head of service of the Samu des Hauts. -de-Seine.
Put yourself in conditions as close as possible to reality
To make the scenario as believable as possible, the majority of the participants were not informed of the details of the simulation which they discovered as the evening progressed.
This is the case of Ugo Mare, volunteer first aider at the Paris Seine Civil Protection, who played the role of a duty manager, responsible for welcoming the rescue teams and organizing the first sorting among the injured. “It’s an exercise that puts us in conditions as close as possible to reality, which allows us to surpass ourselves to be ready on D-Day, even if we hope that day never arrives”, indicates the rescuer.