A medical emergency at a wind farm on the high seas – RWE put its offshore rescue concept to a demanding practical test in order to be as well prepared as possible. In a six-hour rescue exercise at RWE's Nordsee Ost offshore wind farm, various scenarios for rescuing injured technicians were simulated under real conditions. Operations at the wind farm were temporarily suspended for this purpose. RWE planned the exercise together with the German Association for Maritime Emergency Management (GMN). A rescue helicopter and paramedics were deployed. After the successful completion everyone involved analysed the rescue exercise at Heligoland.
Thomas Michel, COO RWE Offshore Wind: “In the event of an emergency, we as the operator are responsible for rescue operations at our offshore wind farms. Our safety standards are correspondingly high and our teams know the emergency plans inside out. But how good a plan is only becomes apparent in practice. That's why we test our rescue concepts under real-life conditions. Many thanks to the RWE team and all the partners involved for their commitment. Together, we can make sure that every move is right in an emergency.”
The following scenarios were practiced
Emergency Scenario 1: Injured technician in wind turbine
An injured technician is in a wind turbine. His colleagues, all trained in advanced first aid, stabilise him and make an emergency call to RWE's own maritime coordination centre, which calls in the Association for Maritime Emergency Management. They commission the rescue helicopter, which flies from St Peter-Ording to the wind farm within 30 minutes, carrying two high-altitude rescuers and an emergency doctor. The rescuers rappel down the wind turbine and make their way to the injured person. The injured person is treated in the lower part of the turbine, known as the transition piece. The injured person is then winched directly into the helicopter hovering next to the turbine, which flies the injured person and doctor to the nearest hospital.
Emergency scenario 2: Technician injured on service vessel
This scenario takes place on Olympic's Service Operation Vessel (SOV), which is used to service wind turbines. There is an injured person on board who is initially treated by the emergency physician in the treatment room. Telemedicine enables further digital support from specialist personnel and remote diagnosis. The patient is then lowered from the ship with the help of the rescue helicopter and its crew and flown to hospital.
RWE world leader in offshore wind energy
RWE is one of the world's leading players in the offshore wind sector and has more than 20 years of experience in the development, construction and efficient operation of offshore wind farms. The company already has 19 offshore wind farms in operation and is currently building the following wind farms: Sofia in the UK (1.4 GW), OranjeWind together with TotalEnergies in the Netherlands (795 MW, TotalEnergies share: 49%) as well as the Thor wind farm in Denmark (1.1 GW) and the Nordseecluster (1.6 GW) in Germany.
Pictures of the rescue exercise for media use (credit: RWE) are available at the RWE Media Centre.