Host

On June 10 and 11, 2023, the Croatian Holmatro Rescue Challenge was held for the first time in Croatia, Karlovac.

30 teams from all over Croatia and Austria, the Czech Republic participated in the competition, and it was judged by 7 international judges from Great Britain, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Romania. All assessors are members of the World Rescue Organization who transferred their knowledge and skills in the field of traffic rescue to all participants of the competition, which increased the operational readiness of Croatian firefighters.

The purpose of the competition was exchanging experiences and acquire new knowledge and achieve better cooperation with the employees of the Institute for Emergency Medicine.

The organizers of the competition were Fire Department of the city of Karlovac and Croatia Firefighting Association.

The overall response was really positive, so it’s likely that though it was the first Croatian Holmatro Rescue Challenge, it won’t be the last one!

● In October 2023., we will organize a two-day workshop in which we will include firefighters from all over Croatia and the neighboring countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia in order to exchange experience and increase operational readiness

● Complete the process of accession to the WRO.

● In February 2024., attend the Czech winter rescue challenge.

● Attend the World Rescue Challenge in Portugal in 2024.

● In June 2024. organize the 2nd Croatia Rescue Challenge

Overview of previous events

Zagreb Rescue Challenge 2016.,2017
● The first competition of its kind in Croatia, organized by the Public Fire Department of the city of Zagreb, with an emphasis on the exchange of experience and discussion on the topic of firefighting tactics and equipment

● A total of 12 teams participated, including the JVP Karlovac team “Workshop Rescue in traffic accidents“ 2018.

● With the organization and financing from the Association of Professional Firefighters of Croatia, JVP Karlovac, JVP Zagreb and JVP Varaždin

● 140 mostly professional firefighters from all over Croatia attended the two-day workshop – first part was educational and second part was application of acquired knowledge Workshop „Rescue in traffic accidents“ 2019.

● With the organization and financing from the Association of Professional Firefighters of Croatia, JVP Karlovac, JVP Zagreb and JVP Varaždin

● 105 firefighters from 10 firefighting communities from Croatia and the team of the Institute of Emergency Medicine of Karlovac County attended the two-day workshop

● The aim of the workshop was to exchange experience and acquire new knowledge on the subject of traffic rescue, and to create a basis for the creation of Standard Operating Procedures for this type of intervention

● First part of workshop was educational and the second part of the workshop was designed as a simulation of a mass traffic accident involving a total of 20 vehicles Workshop„Rescue in traffic accidents“ 2021.

● With the organization and funding from the Association of Professional Firefighters of Croatia, JVP Karlovac, JVP Zagreb, JVP Varaždin, JVP Rijeka and the Fire Brigade of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Institute for Emergency Medicine of Karlovac County

● 100 firefighters from 16 firefighting communities from Croatia attended the two-day workshop with the aim of exchanging experience and gaining new knowledge on the topic of traffic rescue, as well as increasing operational readiness for this type of intervention

● The first part of the workshop was divided into 5 working points, the second part of the workshop was designed as a simulation of a mass traffic accident in which the participants had to apply the learned techniques and tactics when performing technical rescue in traffic accidents

Holmatro Rescue Challenge 2022.

● the 2nd Holmatro Rescue Challenge international competition was held in Hannover, Germany

● 20 teams from all over the world participated

● Croatia was represented by the JVP Karlovac team in which there was one medical technician from the Institute of Emergency Medicine of Karlovac County

Osterreichische Rescue Challenge 2022.

● Traffic accident rescue competition called “Osterreichische rescue challenge 2022” was held as part of the Austrian Technical Rescue Days

● 36 teams from all over Europe participated

● Croatia was represented by the JVP Karlovac team in which there was one medical technician from the Institute of Emergency Medicine of Karlovac County