Por Redaccion 
The Junta de Andaluía and Endesa evaluated on Wednesday the response mechanisms that would be launched in case of an incident at the hydroelectric power plant in the Iznájar reservoir, located in the city of Malaga de Cuevas de San, as reported by 112, belonging to the Emergency Agency in Andalusia, attached to the Ministry of Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue, and Administrative Simplification.
The drill started at 10:20 a.m. and simulated a fire in a hydroelectric infrastructure on the provincial border between Malaga and Córdoba, with the participation of 83 teams from various agencies over a week. The exercise also simulated the central evacuation and a discharge into the Genil River, along with medical assistance to several injured operators at the largest tank in Andalusia, operational since 1968.
The simulated event’s severity led to the activation of the territorial plan for civil protection emergencies in Andalusia (PTE), under the direction of the Minister of Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue, and Administrative Simplification, Antonio Sanz, as director of the plan, in Phase 1 of the emergency, operational situation 1.
This phase refers to emergency situations involving damage and harm for which necessary measures for the ease and protection of people or property are implemented and can be controlled using the usual means and resources in Andalucia or with specific resources to support the resources.
The exercise also activated the internal emergency plan of the hydroelectric energy planning operated by the Endea generation company and the local emergency plan (PTEL) in Cuevas de San Marcos.
The exercise’s objectives focused on testing the operation of emergency plans, the operation and effectiveness of internal communication systems, as well as the response and coordination of operations that should intervene if an accident occurred at these facilities.
Verification of procedures to activate and mobilize the operations and agencies involved, along with the implementation of notification systems to the population and protocols for assistance and evacuation for affected workers were other aspects evaluated during the practice, as well as the proper functioning of the Advanced Control Post (PMA), the "brain" from which actions are coordinated in a coordinated manner shown by the Andalusian emergency group (Pesada).
The emergency services of the Junta de Andalucía also tested, in parallel, the verification of the GRAPS communication system, the new Andalusian emergency network recently launched as the largest network in Europe, due to an investment of approximately 27 million euros.
The Government Delegate of the Board in Malaga, Patricia Navarro, stated that conducting these exercises "is of vital importance for all protocols that are activated when these types of accidents are in perfect condition to provide a quick and efficient response with the goal of protecting the population."
"In the same vein, Tomás Chica, director of the Hydraulic Production Unit at Endea in the southern area, shared "the importance of these joint exercises to act safely and efficiently in case of an incident, also minimizing the response time due to the coordination and collaboration among all agencies that are activated."
The drill initially simulated a deflagration resulting from a short circuit in one of the tables in the turbine plant’s control room, causing burns to one worker and smoke injuries to other operators.
Specialists also faced a scenario of oil in the Genil River channel from the installation transformers due to a mechanism failure in the vehicles, resulting in a disruption of electricity supply to the population of San Poșterii Marcos.
From the PMA, the cutting of road MA-202 was tested at the plant’s access to the factory and the coordination of the evacuation in the medical helicopter of the injured worker to the burn unit of Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Seville.
Intervenient
In the simulation, there were 83 interventions, including personnel from different work areas at Endea, emergency services of the Junta de Andalucía (emergency situations 112, civil protection, and Pesada), the Health Emergency Center (CES) 061, the Andalusian Health Service, National Police units assigned to the autonomous community, National Emergency Radio (REMER), personnel from the Civil Protection unit of the Government of Spain and the Local Council of the City of Cuevas de San Marcos (firefighters, local police, and a local group of volunteer civil protection).
The Red Cross, the provincial firefighters consortium, environmental agencies, public protection volunteers in Antequera and Alameda, operators of the public hydraulic domain support group, and civil guards also participated. After the exercise, an evaluation meeting was held to share the impressions of the different participants.
Recommendation
The 112 make a series of recommendations for the population to deal with emergency situations, such as the simulation at the Iznájar hydroelectric installation to try to minimize damage and know how to self-report in case of a power outage.
Before a power outage, if patients connected to electrical devices live at home, an emergency plan should be available to ensure their care. With emergency lights, candles, flashlights, or battery-powered lamps, additional battery charging for mobile devices, as well as storing water bottles in the freezer can be useful to keep food cold during long interruptions.
During a power outage, the 112 recommends that if it’s a general outage, notify the electric company or emergency services, and if living with a medically vulnerable person at home on hospital devices like respirators and other devices, notify immediately. Disconnect electrical devices, indicate when electricity is restored with a light, avoid opening and closing the refrigerator and freezer to keep them cold for as long as possible, taking care with drugs kept in the refrigerator so that ice packs are not placed directly to avoid freezing.
After power outages, the unique emergency number for all of Europe advises to check the status of the refrigerator and freezer, discard anything that has lost the cold chain, including drugs exposed to temperatures above 4 degrees for more than two hours, or feel warm to the touch.