Whole Poland plunged into mourning after the Tu-154 plane with the presidential couple and the delegation of Polish political and military elites aboard had crashed near Smoleńsk. The mourning could be seen and felt everywhere, in every person, as the immensity of the disaster went beyond the rational comprehension of the world. By Bogdan Romanowski.
It is Impossible
A Saturday morning in April brought some unbelievable news. The first natural reaction of almost everyone who heard the news, were the words: its unbelievable, impossible, its not true! More in the article by Tomasz Gartowski.
Last Farewells
The burial of the presidential couple at Wawel was followed by numerous funerals of other victims of the Smoleńsk crash. Among the victims there were many friends of the professional fire service and volunteer fire service. Report in the latest issue of Fire Review.
Together against Terrorism
"One of the main goals of founding the Anti-Terrorism Centre of the Internal Security Agency was to create a body responsible for coordinating the activities of state services and institutions in the scope of terrorism prevention on the analytical and informative level," says Col. Zbigniew Muszyński, director of the Centre in the interview conducted by Agnieszka Wójcik
Short History of Terrorism
When describing the history of terrorism, it is necessary to distinguish three issues: the history of the phenomenon, the history of the notion and the history of the phenomenon research. The modern terrorism, as understood nowadays, appeared in the last two decades of the 19th century, however, the notion of terrorism had already been used in different context during the French Revolution. Serious academic research on terrorism started in the 1970s, when the sub-discipline of terrorism research emerged from a broader field of security research. By Bartosz Bolechów.
How does a Terrorist Think?
Bartosz Bolechów, Ph. D., an expert on terrorism analysis: "It is difficult to generalize the psychological features of terrorists, as both the phenomenon itself and the persons engaged in terrorism are very diverse." More in the latest issue of Fire Review.
EURO 2012 as a Threat?
The decision to grant Poland and Ukraine the right to organize the Euro 2012 European Football Championship sparked mass euphoria. It is no wonder. Long-awaited by all the sport fans in Europe (and beyond), the European Championship is a great feast of sport entailing emotions on the highest level, comparable with the World Cup or the Olympic Games. This is great prestige for Poland and a great chance for development. By Tomasz Aleksandrowicz.
Experts on Micro-Killers
The problem of using biological weapons became a major issue after the series of terrorist attacks (anthrax-infected mails) in the United States in 2001. The commotion calmed down long time ago, but the problem remains. In Poland some steps were undertaken at that time to have an organized bioterrorism counteraction performed by specialist subjects. More in the article by Elżbieta Przyłuska.
Know How to Act
Col. Janusz Kocik, M.D., Ph.D., director of the General Karol Kaczkowski Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology: "We have to bear in mind that preparing resources for the worst possible scenario leads to a situation when the defence potential is partially wasted." Interview by Elżbieta Przyłuska.
NBC Light Vehicle for Chemical Rescue - Operation Experiences
NBC light vehicle for chemical rescue is a car whose equipment consists mainly of measurement and analytical devices used for detection and assessment of nuclear, biological and chemical hazards. This article aims not only at presenting the NBC tactical capabilities of the vehicle, but also at describing some of the problems which appeared during the actions when the vehicle was used. By Iwona Maj.
Light Vehicle for NBC Hazard Recognition
Because of the occurring hazards, the fire units all over the world increasingly often use specialist vehicles whose main function is to take measures of environmental contamination with radioactive (nuclear) materials, biologically or chemically dangerous materials (NBC). Specializing in technical and chemical rescue, the fire and rescue unit no.6 in Warsaw got such a vehicle at the end of last year. By Paweł Frątczak and Rafał Janowski.
Safe Hospital
Opened eight months ago, the private Medicover hospital has been the largest investment of this type in the history of Polish private healthcare and one of the largest in this part of Europe. The total cost of building the hospital was almost 40 million euro. Because of its purpose, the building is classified within the ZL II category (threat to humans). To provide safety to the people inside, the building has to meet rigorous safety standards, just like kindergartens or day nurseries from the same category. By Agnieszka Wójcik.
Intimidating with Terrorism
Rzeczpospolita daily issued on 1 April 2010 a short interview under significant title: "Poland Unprepared for Attack." It was an interview with a terrorism expert.
The interview, although short, is professionally conducted. The questions are interesting and the responses - unequivocal and indisputable. Not only laymen but also all the persons dealing professionally with this field have the right to believe that all the information are reliable, and all the warnings and theses presented in the interview are real. Out of what the expert says there emerges a specific thought-provoking image. However, when looked at as a whole, the image is not only sombre, but simply incommensurate to reality, and, in the long-run, can be harmful. A polemic by Paweł Rochala.
Act Effectively
On 3 March at 8.00 am a vehicle-trailer combination transporting flammable fluids pulled over and fell aside because of unknown reasons. Oil started to leak through a broken hatch cover of the trailer. By Małgorzata Jarocka-Krzemkowska.
Breaking the Ice
This winter ice conditions started to appear on the rivers already in the second half of December. The first sign was the pancake ice, i.e. little and very sticky ice particles constituting characteristic round pieces, even 1 meter thick and with the diameter of no more than 3 meters. Anchor ice was another form of ice - the bottom deposits give the anchor ice the grey colour, hence, it is called "ice owls." By Beata Janowczyk.
Alternative Pipelines
Pipelines of the fixed extinguishing devices - sprinklers and drenchers - are composed mainly of pipes and pipe fittings made of black or galvanized steel. By Jan Czardybon.
Tents and Decontamination Kits
A terrorist attack may involve biological or chemical contamination of people and environment. To neutralize its consequences it is necessary to perform decontamination. For decontamination the rescuers use chambers, tents and kits for mass decontamination. The selected ones are presented in the latest issue of Fire Review.
Fire Safety Requirements for Buildings. Part 7. Summary
The initial goal of this series of articles was to use simple examples for presenting legal regulations concerning fire safety of buildings from all the five categories of threats to humans. After the presentation of all the five categories it is time for summary and conclusions. By Paweł Rochala.
ZL IV Building Control?
Many experts of the fire protection industry believe that the residential buildings classified within the ZL IV category of the threat to humans cannot be controlled. Is it true or just a myth? In my article I will try to prove that in the eye of the legal regulations the control bodies of the State Fire Service have greater capabilities and competences that it is commonly believed. By Arkadiusz Mocek.
Cooperation without Borders
As a result of long-lasting snowfall a large part of the West Pomerania province was covered with a thick layer of snow. This and the low temperature created a thick layer of ice on the water areas. A sudden rise of temperatures, which resulted in snow-melting, put the rescue services on alert ... By Roksana Piątek.
Never Too Much About Safety
In a situation of a sudden threat to life it is necessary to react quickly and firmly. This was the motto of the first edition of the conference entitled "Systems and technologies supporting rescue action organization" organized by the MultiTrain company in the Banking and Financial Centre "Nowy Świat" in Warsaw. More in the article by Bogdan Romanowski.
Seagrave - in the Past and Now. Part 1
There are not many companies in the world producing fire service equipment which could pride themselves with almost 130 years of tradition. One of them is Seagrave Fire Apparatus. Seagrave is one of the oldest and best known American companies manufacturing equipment for fire service. By Marek Pisarek.
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