Building bridges, supplying entire communities with drinking water and power – or securing buildings at risk of collapse: Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) takes on big tasks. And yet many operations are on a smaller scale, often in the immedi-ate neighborhood. Just like on this Sun-day morning in the branch of a bank in

Ginsheim-Gustavsburg (Hesse). Following a break-in, two external doors are hang-ing off their hinges, the entrance to the safe-deposit boxes has been demolished. The job of the crew with the blue cloth-ing and yellow helmets is to secure all destroyed openings with wooden boards and screw fixings so that the building can be handed over to the tradespeople

the following day. Curious looks from the bakery opposite are also focused on the blue equipment vehicle. Who is busy here with angle grinders and saws? The operation is just an exercise, the build-ing is set to be demolished shortly, but the scenario is realistic, explains unit leader Dennis Butscheidt. That’s because securing a damaged building is one of the

BLUE BLOODFrom the natural disaster to the destruction of critical infrastructure:

Almost 80,000 people in Germany volunteer for the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), an organization actively involved in disaster management.

TEXT PETER THOMAS

QUICKLY ON THE SCENEFollowing the serious explosion in the port of Beirut in August

2020, volunteers as well as search and rescue dogs from the

THW’s SEEBA rapid-response group were on the scene

tant for the role of German disaster manage-ment and for the identity of the volunteers. If the THW is called upon by foreign gov-ernments, it must act quickly. To this end, there is the Center for Foreign Logistics (ZAL), which opened in Mainz in 2010. This unit, in which sealed aluminum cases are stacked as high as the ceiling, is supervised by Germany’s Federal Aviation Office. All of the material and equipment stored here is ready to be directly loaded onto a plane.

IN PACKED CASES: PART OF THE EQUIPMENT IS ALWAYS READY TO GO

FOREIGN AIDThe THW was founded in 1950 as an orga-nization for German disaster management. Nonetheless, there is a long tradition of aid operations abroad – like here following the serious explosion in the port of Beirut

responsibilities of Technical Unit N (“Emergency Supply and Maintenance”), established two years ago and set to be part of all 668 local sections of the THW in the future.

OPERATIONS ABROADFounded 70 years ago, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief is also known for its operations abroad: earthquakes, flood disasters – or the serious explosion in

the port of Beirut in August 2020. The Rapid Deployment Unit Search and Res-cue Abroad (SEEBA, founded in 1985) and the Rapid Deployment Unit Water Supply and Treatment Abroad (SEEWA, set up in 2004 to supply drinking water in disaster regions) are mainly called on to assist in exceptional situations.

Statistically, such occasions account for a tiny proportion of the roughly 10,000 THW operations each year. Yet they are impor-

FOCUS ENGAGEMENT

“There are around 10,000 pallet spaces in the warehouse,” says Fabian Kehr. The IT systems technician is part of the ZAL’s five-strong team. Rescue equipment and high-power pumps are kept in the ware-house alongside everything needed to set up entire camps. The dispatched units are able to remain self-sufficient for ten days. There are even smaller kennels, complete with blankets, to house the search and rescue dogs. The THW also keeps medi-cal equipment in the containers. A data-base provides information on the status of the equipment. Items are booked in and out using bar codes and a handheld scan-ner. The THW has assigned a specific loca-tion for every item rather than opting for a space-saving “chaotic” storage approach. “This serves as a fallback solution – in the event of a power outage, for example,” says Kehr. At the THW, there is a tradition of providing assistance throughout the world, stresses Gerd Friedsam. The former spe-cialist subject teacher at Germany’s Fed-eral School for Disaster Management has been the president of the THW since Jan-uary 2020. “The first foreign operation was in 1953. In Holland, we helped to over-come high tides and extensive flooding,” says Friedsam. Back then, the THW had around 3,000 volunteer members.

It has carried out operations in more than 140 countries since then, and has con-stantly grown: Today, it has almost 80,000 volunteers. At present, 15 percent of these volunteers are women. Then there is the youth organization and up to 2,000 places each year for the Federal Voluntary Ser-vice. More than 6,000 new volunteers have joined over the past year, with around 80 percent of them aged 35 or younger. “The THW’s work with children from the age of six and with young people is particularly

important for its future,” says Sabrina Heinz. The physician assistance student grew up in a typical THW family and now supervises the local section of the THW Youth in Rüsselsheim, among other things. Gerd Friedsam is proud of such traditions and talks of families who are now actively involved in the THW in the third genera-tion. When he talks about “blue blood,” the president, whose office is in Bonn, is not talking about the nobility, but rather the unity within the organization. In pic-tures taken when it was first founded, vol-unteers can mainly be seen with shovels, wheelbarrows, and sandbags. Nowadays, there are heavy trucks, cordless power tools, excavators, and radio technology. And it isn’t just the equipment that has changed. “In terms of its structure, the THW of the early days is incomparable with today’s modern organization,” says the president. It has constantly improved and adapted to the new demands of disas-ter management and civil protection.

CHANGED RISKSKeeping track of risks and continuously reassessing them is essential to disaster management, confirms Gerold Reichen-bach. The former member of the Ger-man parliament (SPD) has been actively involved in the THW since 1976, and was a member of the steering committee of the THW’s national association and chair-man of the Hesse regional association. In his role as reporter for his civil protec-tion and disaster relief section, he co-pub-lished the 2008 book Risiken und Heraus-forderungen für die öffentliche Sicherheit in Deutschland (Risks and Challenges for Public Safety in Germany). One scenario in the book dealt with the outbreak of a pandemic caused by a SARS virus trans-

mitted by humans. This is precisely what has happened in 2020 – with differences in terms of infectiousness and mortality. SARS-CoV-2 is also keeping the THW busy, says Gerd Friedsam. Among other things, the organization has built a testing center, advised crisis teams, and delivered protec-tive equipment purchased by the govern-ment to public facilities. The fact that the THW’s tasks have become more diverse is reflected in the roughly 1,000 THW techni-cal units and their specialized tasks. One area focuses on damage to critical infra-structure such as the drinking water and energy supply, communication networks, and transport routes. Among the extraor-dinary groups are units that specialize in building bridges (including temporary railroad bridges up to 120 meters long)

WELL EQUIPPED This high-bay storage system with ready-to-use modules is also part of the Center for Foreign Logistics. Bottom: Cristoforo Cascino, THW training officer in Mainz, with breathing apparatus (Dräger PSS 5000) and helmet (Dräger HPS 4300)

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and blasting (when drift ice threatens a bridge, for example) as well as the supply of drinking water with laboratories and mobile waterworks.

THE ROUTE INTO THE THWThe professional backgrounds of the vol-unteers are diverse. Alone in the team involved in the exercise at the former bank branch there are clerks, schoolteachers, forest managers, and engineers, plus young apprentices and students. What they all have in common is the desire and willing-ness to help. While some want to use their professional qualifications, others simply enjoy the change from their normal job. Many people also find their specialist area in the course of their volunteer work. Like Günter Steinmüller and Peter Münch, both are employed in technical positions in the automotive industry. The chairman of the local section in Rüsselsheim and his depu-ty have developed into logistics experts over the years. Their location close to Frank-furt Airport is the personnel hub for all of the THW’s foreign operations. The neigh-boring local section in Groß-Gerau takes care of the catering. “When the availabil-ity request arrives in the middle of the night and around 50 crew members need breakfast early in the morning, you need to be able to improvise,” says Steinmüller, recalling past missions. A team of around a dozen volunteers from the local section makes sure that all processes and supervi-sory tasks are taken care of, says Münch.

Anyone who wants to volunteer for the THW must complete the basic training, explains Cristoforo Cascino, chemical pro-cess technician, who also serves as the THW’s training officer in Mainz. On aver-age, 15 new volunteers take their exams here each year. The qualifications they can

THE DESIRE TO HELP UNITES PEOPLE – ACROSS BORDERS AND DISCIPLINES

TAMING HIGH WATERS Flood operations are also among the jobs regularly handled by the THW.The specialist skills required here come under the Water Damage/Pumping Technical Unit. Besides sandbag dams, high-power pumps are also important tools in combating the water

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FOCUS ENGAGEMENT

“WE WERE ABLE TO GIVE PEOPLE PEACE OF MIND”

Anesthetist and THW volunteer Katharina Lederer is part of the Rapid Deployment Unit Search and Rescue Abroad (SEEBA). In August 2020, she went to Beirut after the serious explosion in the port. SEEBA is Germany’s only serious urban location and rescue unit.

Ms. Lederer, how did it feel when you were sent on yourfirst foreign operation with SEEBA?We are actually always prepared for it: The packed bag is on standby, the immu-nizations are up to date. But when I heard the words “We are flying” the night after the accident, the practiced exercises were suddenly very real. I can deal with the pressure during the operation quite well because of what I do for a living.

What were the team’s tasks on the ground?Our roughly 50-strong team was supported during the entire operation by two paramedics and two medical doctors. On the ground, we went with them around the area destroyed by the explosion to search with the dogs for survivors. Inciden-tally, among the extensive medical equipment was a Dräger emergency ventilator.

What kind of emotions were triggered within the team when youwere no longer able to rescue survivors from the rubble?Every international team was deployed by the authorities in areas that had already been searched with a negative outcome. So it was mainly about confirming that there were no more survivors in the rubble. Neither the population nor we therefore considered our mission a failure. Instead, we were able to give people the peace of mind that work on the difficult cleanup operation could now begin.

What is the contact like with the locals during such an operation?We learned quite a lot about life in Beirut; we were put up in a German– Lebanese school and were able to chat with the teaching staff. We were pleased that we were able to leave most of the consumables we had brought with us in Beirut; medical supplies for the hospitals and masks for the schoolchildren to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

obtain later on include breathing appara-tus training, explains Cascino, pulling the mount from the side of the equipment vehi-cle holding two Dräger PSS 5000 breath-ing apparatus kits. The THW has adopted Fire Service Regulation 7 (FwDV 7) relat-ing to the handling of the breathing appa-ratus technology. “Besides the PSS 5000, the THW also uses Type HPS 3500 and HPS 4300 helmets,” says Guido Linge, sales engi-neer at Dräger. Yellow HPS 4300 helmets are THW standard, adds Linge. The THW has purchased color-coded versions for for-eign operations. That’s because individu-al roles are identified by the color of the helmet on international missions (see also Dräger Review 122: p. 38 ff.).

NEW RECRUITSMany volunteers come to the THW over many different paths, be it through friends, college courses, or their jobs. This was also the case for the anesthetist Katharina Lederer, who works in Frankfurt. The doctor is a SEEBA member and joined the team during the foreign operation in the Lebanon in August 2020 (see the interview). “I was working as a paramedic at the time, and I became aware of SEEBA in the course of a conversation at the emergency depart-ment of University Hospital Marburg. I was immediately interested. After completing the THW’s basic training and various oth-er courses, I became a SEEBA paramedic.” Lederer has been familiar with the ware-house for the foreign missions for a num-ber of years, because she also looks after the medical material: “This also includes checking packing lists and expiry dates,” she says. After all, the material must be imme-diately available for the next operation so that it can be transported to the airport and flown to the scene of the operation. P

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