Übersicht
In late 2021, Safeture teamed up together with one of our Nordic risk management partners and Falck Global Assistance to offer current and future mutual clients an even better service. Shortly after, a situation arose that meant putting the newly founded partnership to the test—and with great success. This summarizes the events and how our partnership managed to get personnel evacuated from an active war zone.
Background
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, one of the clients of our risk management partner contacted them regarding two crews of 45 people trapped in a port in south Ukraine with the ongoing Russian invasion approaching. The crews had been stuck since the beginning of the invasion and without the possibility of taking the sea route out due to the danger of being hit. They needed a secure evacuation plan on land so that the two crews could get to safety in a neighboring country before heading back home to their respective home countries.
Challenge
Two different crews at two separate locations needed evacuation over the bridge to the north, the only remaining route over the Pivdennyi Buh River. Due to one of the crew’s proximities to the frontline, there had to be different evacuation routes, making the situation tenser for the crews and a tougher challenge for those planning the routes. Besides planning the evacuation, the crew managers had to be quickly onboarded to the Safeture app to enable our risk management partner to follow their position and guide them in real-time, without initially knowing the condition, make, or the age of the crew managers’ smartphones.
Solution
Through direct communication with the crew managers, the work began to guide them in installing the Safeture app step-by-step. The onboarding was done swiftly, and they could report their location to the Control Center. With the connection confirmed, the situation progressed so that they could brief the vessel managers on the evacuation plan.
“One remarkable thing is that the Safeture is app is very light on the battery, even when actively sharing one’s location—a must in these situations.”
The two crews began their evacuation, following their respective given routes. The crew’s location accuracy was critical. With the crew managers onboarded to the Safeture app, they could give permission to track their progress down to meters every step of the way from the ship to their end destination: a crucial feature in these situations, where the focus should be on safely moving forward for the crews and not on communicating with the Control Center. This helped save essential battery life on their phones and valuable time during the evacuation.
During the evacuation, the risk management partner contacted Falck Global Assistance, filling them in on the situation. They had a 45- person crew in need of medical and fit-to-fly checks and psychological debriefings done by the morrow. The answer from Falck was, “No problem, we’ll organize.”
The same day, Falck Global Assistance sent a medical team to a hotel in Bucharest to prepare for the arrival of the two crews. When they arrived in Bucharest, they were welcomed by Falck Global Assistance’s medical team, who performed medical and fit-to-fly checks and psychological debriefings. The crews were in good health and happy to be safe. Falck Global Assistance provided further help with psychological follow-ups in their respective home countries and set up the ability to activate local offices in their home countries to deal with any situations.
All 45 people were successfully evacuated unharmed through an active war zone. From the first point of contact, it only took five days for the crews to be evacuated, brought to safety, receive medical checks, and flown home to their families, including the 2,5 days of travel through Ukraine.
About Falck Global Assistance
Established in 1906, Falck Global Assistance, part of the Falck Group, delivers a range of customized services from all of Falck’s various service areas. Falck operates in 35 countries, has more than 32,000 employees, and is the largest rescue company in the world.
About Safeture
Safeture (founded in 2009) is a Software as a Service (SaaS) company based in Sweden. The company offers a complete platform designed to manage employee safety and risk/crisis management. Through world-leading technology and innovative solutions, Safeture helps almost 4 000 companies and organizations to protect what matters most – their employees.
