Stabbings, collapse, and childbirth. The UWB team defended its first place in the Pilsen Rescue Cup

Unconscious, cardiac arrest, knife stabbing. This is just a brief list of what the participants of the Pilsen Rescue Cup had to manage to survive in the competition near Prášily. The 13th edition of the competition took place here with the participation of nine three-person teams.

As part of the rescue team exercise, participants had to deal with various crisis situations that simulated real interventions. The authenticity of individual situations was ensured by the actors and the setting of individual rescue operations in the Šumava landscape. The University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (UWB) was represented by Jiří Bičiště, Martin Tirpák and Mojmír Bohanes from the Faculty of Health Care Studies (FZS) on the weekend of 16-18 May.

The first place in the Pilsen Rescue Cup was taken by the team of UWB, as last year, the second place belonged to Masaryk University in Brno and the bronze medal went to the team of the University of Ostrava.

"It's a great experience for us. In the past we have attended four competitions of a similar nature and each time we have been on the podium," said Jiří Bičiště, the commander of the UWB team.

"On Friday, the night stage took place in very inclement weather, during which the students solved two model situations: a fast delivery of a patient in an advanced stage of pregnancy and an acute stress reaction of several family members," said Stanislava Reichertová from the Department of Paramedic Medicine, Diagnostic Disciplines and Public Health of the Faculty of Health Care Studies (FZS) of UWB.

"Saturday was definitely the most challenging, with a total of 10 competition tasks - 2 technical and 8 medical," Reichertová continued. For example, participants were taken into the environment of a quarry where they found an unconscious patient. They had to prepare him for transport on an inclined rope traverse. The teams also encountered water - carrying a patient across a watercourse using a rope bridge or raft. "The choice of method depended on the tactical reasoning of the competitors," Reichertová said.

The contestants also had to solve the problem of accessing a senior citizen with cardiac arrest who was wedged in the toilet, as well as a knife stabbing while boning meat, a temporary loss of consciousness while walking, an assault and stabbing of a senior citizen by his granddaughter, a work accident while unloading a truck, and a collapse and nausea after using stimulant medication.

"The competition enjoys great interest among students every year, it is an attractive diversification of studies and at the same time an essential practice for future rescuers," concluded Stanislava Reichertová.

The weekend's competition also included workshops provided by the Centre for Palliative Care, the ČČK Water Rescue Service and Corpulus. The event was held in cooperation with partners.