Post-fire deformation monitoring with Leica Geosystems total stations in the Polish Fire Service.

Author: Malgorzata Krol

Unit- and public safety as a priority in every search and rescue operation

At first glance, talking about the day-to-day job of the Polish Fire Service, everything seems to be clear: firefighters put out fires. This is true but putting out fires is only one of many tasks of this professional, uniformed, well-trained, and specially equipped unit.

The Polish State Fire Service was established on July 1, 1992. Since then, the organisation and the functions of the units have entirely changed. Today, Polish firefighters do not only put out fires. Their tasks also include the following rescue actions: technical, chemical, ecological, medical etc. The firefighters also fight against natural disasters, rescue people injured during disasters, support the police units searching for missing persons in open terrain, and respond to other local threats, such as major traffic accidents.

波兰州消防局包括国家消防局的国家总部，16个省级总部，335县 /市政总部。在波兰，有515个消防和救援部队。在波兰的五所专业学校中，教授了新兵的消防技能。主要的消防学校（SzkołaGłownaSłuêbypoarniczej）在华沙，Częstochowa的中央消防局，克拉科夫和波兹南的两名有抱负的学校以及Bydgoszcz的州官员学校消防局。

Specialized Search and Rescue Units

在Katowice州消防局的省总部，存在于高级PawełKrótki上尉的指挥下，存在专门的搜救小组：SGPRJastrzęBie-Zdrój。该单元符合“ A”，“ B”和“ C”水平的标准，即按照“原理搜寻及救援in the National Rescue and Firefighting System". Additionally, some SGPR unit members are part of the USAR Poland unit, a Search and Rescue group also designed for international operations.

Jastrzębie-Zdrój的专业搜救小组（SGPR）是波兰仅有的几个消防部队之一，保持了最高水平：“ C”的“ C”准备就绪，以执行全国范围内极具挑战性的消防和救援任务。这些不同的准备水平取决于该单位的应急响应的适用性，消防员的数量，其资格和本单元中的技术设备。

The emergency response actions of the SGPR unit are also supported by rescue dogs and high-class equipment. For example, the location equipment, including a camera plus geophone and a deformation monitoring system based on two Leica Geosystems TS16 total stations. The Leica systems are used to continuously monitor the stability of damaged structures of burned buildings when buildings might collapse. In addition, the SGPR unit uses structural stabilisation equipment, height rescue equipment and a wide range of other technical equipment necessary in complex rescue operations.

Top-notch monitoring system supporting the emergency response in the SGPR

Since 2016, the SGPR Jastrzębie-Zdrój unit has been equipped with two Leica Geosystems Total Station systems for monitoring the stability of close-to-collapse burnt structures. For rescue purposes, deformation monitoring is one of the major tasks of this kind of operations. The stability of a building after a fire or a gas explosion can quickly change and usually poses a significant threat to the rescue units working on-site. Continuous monitoring of changes in the structure's condition or possible falling debris is necessary to maintain the safety of the firefighters, the emergency response units, the living victims and the success and efficiency of a rescue mission.

Source: SGPR Jastrzebie Zdroj

Each of Leica Geosystems's two systems includes a Leica TS16 robotic total station, a laptop computer with Leica GeoMoS monitoring software, a power box, and an optical and acoustic beacon. - "We acquired the first set based on the TS16 in 2016 and the second set in 2018. We still have a manual total station at our disposal, which we treat primarily as backup equipment. The manual total station is sometimes used in situations when it is necessary to observe a larger number of points from several positions" - explains Captain Paweł Krótki, the commander of SGPR Jastrzębie-Zdrój.

SGPR消防员和救援团队，尤其是Leica Geosystem设备的运营商，测量和监视每年许多火灾或爆炸与遭受灭绝或濒危结构的稳定性。他们观察并监视建筑物的状况，并确保墙壁，屋顶等的结构运动不会威胁到救援行动的安全。

How does the monitoring of endangered structural elements with total stations look like?

在扑灭大火并最初确保现场后，SGPR单位指挥官和总站运营商进行了首次观察，侦察和对情况的评估，以安全地进行监视活动。他们关注物体的大小，受损建筑物周围区域的范围，使用的设备范围，现场工作期间救援单位的相对安全以及可能保留的结构元素建筑。然后确定Leica Geosystems总站的定位。

The monitoring of the object/building starts with identifying and selecting a certain number of distinctive points on the building structure. Those points need to be easily identifiable and characteristic. One total station continuously observes the defined points in predefined time intervals. Essential for the operation's success is that the monitoring activities must not, under any circumstances, impede the access of emergency units carrying out the direct rescue operation.

在整个操作过程中，都会进行观察，测量和监测预定的独特点。Leica Geosystems TS16总站TS16自动自动执行此操作。前提是，首先将要监视的要点定义并编程到Geomos软件中，以“指示” Leica GeoSystems Total Station相应地测量它们。Leica Geosystems系统配备了一个警报模块，该模块对测量点的位置的变化做出反应，并给操作员提供光学和音频反馈。注意到并报告了与原始位置的任何点偏差。

The threat of the so-called "secondary collapse" of a post-fire structure can be extremely dangerous. When a deviation is noticed, the total station operator informs the rescue unit commander about the change in the building condition. Based on that information, the commander instantly makes his decision about any further action. The decision might be about a temporary or even a complete stop of the rescue mission, or the withdrawal of units searching the rubble and securing the breached structure again. Usually, the decisions are made temporarily, allowing for resumption and safe completion of rescue action after re-securing the scene.

The safety of rescue teams and possible victims is paramount

在火灾或爆炸场景上以及在建筑灾难期间进行的救援行动是任何消防部队的专门搜索和救援部队执行的最复杂，最复杂和危险的任务。在瓦砾，裸露电源电缆或气体泄漏下可能发生火灾的情况下，清理灾区是仅针对任何训练有素的任何消防队的训练和装备的地层的任务。确保环境和救援任务的积极成果，并确保维持相关团队的安全和可能仍在生存的受害者的安全，这是专业消防部队日常工作的主要任务。