Fire Service exercises at Lech Poznań

On Friday 29.09.2023 Poznań City Headquarters of the Fire Service conducted at Lech Poznań Stadium exercises focusing on CBRNE threats.

The first part of the event focused  on theoretical aspects: types and summary of CBRN incidents, real-case scenarios, critical infrastructure safety and protection as well as management of (CBRN) threats at mass events. During the morning session also Safe Stadium, NEST and HoloZcan projects were presented by University of Lodz.
The second part of the event focused on exercises consisting of three scenarios:
  • – spraying chemical agents form a drone on fans of one of the stadium sectors,
  • – hanging of unidentified and suspicious object of the stadium roof structure,
  • – planting a suspicious object under the seats at one of the sectors.

 

The Safe Stadium – the decisive phase

In March and April next year, in Lodz and in Madrid, two large-scale pilot exercises will be organized to summarize the Safe Stadium Project. Last Wednesday, the Municipal Sports and Recreation Arena in Lodz organized a meeting devoted to the Lodz event, which will be held at Władysław Król Stadium.

Lodz Regional Police Team (Exercise Leader) presented the concept of pilot exercises. These will be the so-called exercises harmonizing the Police and non-police entities – project partners, as well as other public services and institutions performing tasks in the field of public safety. On behalf of the Police, the exercises will be attended by representatives of the organizational units of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Lodz and the Police Headquarters in Lodz, as well as the Police Prevention Unit and the Independent Counter-Terrorist Subdivision of the Police. The University of Lodz and the Provincial Police Headquarters will take care of the presence of several hundred helpers. An important role in the exercise will be played by Łódzki Klub Sportowy , for which the security of sports events is an absolute priority.

In order to ensure greater realism, the exercise will start with a football match (one of the foreign teams is associated with an institution that is part of the project consortium, but it will be a surprise).

The aim of the exercise will be checking the procedures and technical solutions developed for sport facilities i.e.: stewards, information services, security and order services, monitoring service, announcer, security manager. Their cooperation with the services in the event of a terrorist attack using CBRN agents will be tested.

Planning of Madrid Large Scale Exercise is planned for upcoming months.

Demonstration event movie

We invite you to see video relation form the Joint Demonstration event held at National Stadium in Warsaw on 17th May 2023. The aim of the event was to test and validate results of the Safe Stadium project and two H2020 projects HoloZcan and NEST.

More information about the event can be found here.

Get to know Safe Stadium project – part 1

What is the Safe Stadium project about? Why was the project written? What is the project trying to achieve? To answer this and other question the Project consortium will conduct several interviews with team members. We start with the Michal Bijak, PhD, DSc, prof. UL – project’s author and coordinator.
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What does the term CBRN mean and how the Safe Stadium project approach this threats?
CBRN is an abbreviation for chemical, biological and radiation/nuclear threats. These are unconventional threats, formerly mainly associated with military weapons of mass destruction. However, in recent years increased awareness of the possibility of their use in terrorist attacks, has caused that they are now considered also in term of internal security. The Safe Stadium project,  created as a response to these types of threats, focuses at developing a system for preventing, recognizing and limiting the effects of the possible use of CBRN agents at sports facilities. One of the project’s main goals is also to establish cooperation between institutions representing various sectors important in building a comprehensive security system, i.e. the research and development sector (e.g. University of Lodz), the implementation/technology sector (e.g. Dynamic Safety Corporation), end users (MAKiS, Real Madrid, Lech Poznan), security sector and law enforcement agencies (Polish Police, Spanish Police, SERIS).
Where did the idea for this project come from? Do such threats really exist? What type of CBRN threats is currently the most probable and are we ready for it?
CBRN agents have been a serious threat for many years. Even in antient times biological agents were used for war purposes. In recent years, the awareness and propaganda in terrorist groups regarding the use of CBRN agents has been increasing. Therefore, we decided to deal with the topic of counteracting this kind of threats. Due to theirs specific properties, each CBRN agent causes a real threat and can be used to harm the population. For years, services and international initiatives have been trying to prepare themselves for potential  CBRN threats – with our project we try to support this initiative.
Today we are talking a lot about different financial challenges – can event organizers, sports clubs, facility operators afford to implement project solutions?
Increasing CBRN security is a series of solutions that include special procedures and, of course, hardware recommendations or the so-called ‘security by design’. The implementation of procedural changes or staff training does not require any financial outlay, and significantly improves the safety of the facility. Purchase of ICT solution or detection equipment does require some financial investment. However, within the project we invite sport facilities to first analyse potential threats that their object may be facing. This for example could identification of nearby plant (dealing with certain types of chemicals) or train station through which a cargo shipment is being transported. Based on this analysis a targeted solution can be considered.
Shouldn’t the central authorities, the police, etc., be responsible for creating the procedures?
Shouldn’t such procedures be drafted and implemented by government agencies like law enforcement agencies?
The police and other services conduct their activities based on their internal laws and regulations. Police units from European Union cooperate with each other when international matches are organized to improve fans safety. They also cooperate with each other through international bodies (e.g.: European Group of Policing Football and National Football Information Points) and propose legislative solution. We believe that our project could support this twofold: (1) through development of ready to use procedures for sport facilities and (2) through suggestion of legislative solution that could be implemented at European level.  The second will be developed in cooperation with law enforcement and EU agencies.
Let’s also remember that it is an organizer that is responsible for safety at the facility, and for this reason, as part of the project, we focus on the end-users, but we also try to adapt the project results to the procedures followed by the services responding at the event site.
The Safe Stadium project is developed in partnership with institutions from other countries, including Germany, Spain and Italy. Does it mean that CBRN threats should be considered globally? Can we build a more effective civil protection system thanks to international cooperation?
All security threats should be considered in a global perspective. The flow of information, transfer of good practices, the use of the existing and developed solutions cause that international initiatives always facilitate the creation of high-quality project results.
Let’s also remember that terrorist also benefit form the free flow of information. If we want to be one step ahead of them, we have to work and think globally.
What is particularly important in building a civil protection system, including mass events, against such threats?
First of all, the awareness that such threats may occur and what consequences they may bring.

Sport4Cancer conference

Few weeks ago our Project was presented during the Sport4Cancer scientific workshop (San Javier, Spain and online). The focus of the workshop was the relationship between cancer and physical activity.

The project SAFE STADIUM was briefly presented including reflections on the fact that procedures have to take into consideration spectators with different needs including disability. Moreover (as suggested by the organizers), many times the dream of the ill cancer patient, is the possibility to participate in their ‘hero’s sport game which might make them part of special needs group.

The congress has been co-funded by the European Union and has the support of the Seneca Foundation – Science and Technology Agency of the Region of Murcia through a grant from the Subprogram to support the Exchange of Highly Specialized Knowledge of the Region of Murcia.

Demonstration event at National Stadium in Warsaw

Three European projects SAFE STADIUM, HoloZcan and NEST joined forces and organized a complex demonstration event at PGE National Stadium in Warsaw on May 17, 2023. The event focused on the latest technological solutions and procedures for protecting public spaces in the context of CBRN terrorist attacks. The event was based on complementary focus of each of three projects. The HoloZcan project is developing a novel AI-supported technology solution for the detection of biological threats, while the NEST project is using multiple sensor systems to detect CBRN agents. The SAFE-STADIUM project focuses on the CBRN protection procedures of sport facilities.

 

In accordance with the established scenario, during an improvised football match with the participation of the public, a van was driven onto the pitch, from which terrorists in possession of a dangerous substance ran out. After spraying an unknown chemical agent, the attackers and several other people were killed. The situation required the immediate removal of spectators from the stadium and the implementation of rescue and identification operations and decontamination. In the course of the ongoing operations, it turned out that among the people leaving the facility, there was another terrorist who had released an agent of a biological nature. This complex scenario allowed to test technological solution developed by HoloZcan and NEST project, as well as, procedure developed within Safe Stadium. It also gave an opportunity for police and fire fighter forces to practise cooperation during improvised terrorist attack. 

 

All three project are financed by European Union: SAFE STADIUM (agreement 101034226 – SAFE STADIUM) by Internal security Funds – police, NEST (agreement 101018596 – NEST) and HoloZcan (agreement 101021723 — HoloZcan) by H2020 programme.

fot. Bartosz Kałużny (CKiPR UŁ)

Safe Stadium at European Group of Policing

Safe Stadium project was presented at the meeting of European Group of Policing Football and National Football Information Points (NFIP) Network Experts – “European Think Tank”. The meeting was organized by Swedish NFIP unit on 16-17 May 2023 at Swedish Police Academy Stockholm. The presentation focused on project solutions elaborated for sport facilities such as CBRN safety procedures, ICT/equipment recommendations and  training materials. The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss potential, new solutions in legislation area that could integrate CBRN safety into mass event regulations. In upcoming months project members hopes to consult those solutions also with other institutions, such as Council of Europe.

 

Meeting in Rome of Safe Stadium consortium partners

On January 30-31, 2023, was held in Rome a meeting of SAFE STADIUM Project’s consortium. This time the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome (Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS) was a host of the meeting.

Representatives of the University of Lodz, as a leader of the consortium, moderated a discussion about the progress & plans regarding different thematic areas. As the work in the project progress, the discussion between partners focused on project concrete solutions:

  • Set of recommendation tailored to the needs of sport focusing on infrastructure including security by design; available software & detection/protection equipment solutions improving CBRN safety. Task implemented within Work package: 5 Development of elements of the system – infrastructure, ICT, equipment.

 

  • Procedures, tools, plans and guidelines in the area of CBRN safety covering: action schemes (graphic visualisation of most important safety procedures designed for stewards); vulnerable spots protection (a checklist for sport facilities that could support safety check before organized events); PPE (personal protective equipment most suitable for sport facilities), detection and decontamination procedures; evacuation procedures combined with crowd management and cooperation with LEA as well as basis in triage procedures at mass sport events. Tasks implemented within Work package: 4 Development of elements of the system – procedures, tools, plans and guidelines.

 

  • Training programme for main target groups of the project. Partners agreed on topic and size of training materials for main target groups members: (1) security staff; (2) stewards, (3) managing staff, (4) non-security-staff and (5) tenants. Tasks implemented within Work package 6: Development of elements of the system – training materials and eLearning platform.

 

It was agreed that within upcoming months partners will focus on finishing WP4 and WP5 procedures and recommendation as well as on transferring elaborated solution into flexible and tailored training materials for sport facilities. Project members will also test part of prepared tools, as Safe Stadium project will be involved in organization of an event focusing on services’ activities in the incident involving CBRN, scheduled for May 2023 in Poland.

Safe Stadium in Indonesia and Thailand

EU CBRN CoE Project 61 Sound Management of chemicals and their associated wastes was very significant project in South East Asia. Project 61 Consortium carried out training activities in Indonesia (Bali) and in Thailand in November and December 2022. In addition to these training activities, the Project 61 final meeting was organized in Indonesia (Bali), where delegates from EU CBRN CoE, UNICRI and also National Focal Points from Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam participated.

International Security and Emergency Management Institute (ISEMI) as part of Project 61 consortium participated at final meeting of EU CBRN CoE Project 61 on 28th and 29th of November 2022 in Indonesia. During this meeting ISEMI informed about Safe stadium project and distributed Safe Stadium Project leaflets to 6 National Focal Points from Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam and also representatives from EU CBRN CoE and UNICRI. ISEMI proposed to carry out project related to CBRN Protection of public spaces and mass events in South East Asia. Moreover, ISEMI disseminated information about Safe Stadium project and shared leaflets in Bangkok on 7th of December 2022 during EU CBRN CoE Project 61 National training in Thailand.

 

Safe Stadium at Major Sports Events Experts Meeting

Safe Stadium was presented at Major Sports Events Experts Meeting held at Council of the European Union on 12 October 2022. Major Sports Events Experts are part of Law Enforcement Working Party which handles work relating to legislative activities as well as cross-border policing and related operational issues in various areas including security of major events and sports events. Safe Stadium delegates presented project aims and ambitions which cover also improvement in legislation area – review of available legislation, development of proposals to regulate CBRN at mass Events. At the same time, a proposal was made to cooperate at expert group level, which, if accepted, will be pursued in the areas of legislation, training and project promotion. We will keep you informed of further progress in this area.