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Meter-high flames, unbearable heat, dense smoke – employees of the Vogelsberg district administration were pushed to their limits. It was just an exercise, but the scenario was tough.
Vogelsbergkreis – The disaster control and the newly formed administrative staff of the Vogelsbergkreis have completed their first joint large-scale exercise. The scenario: Weeks of scorching heat with temperatures of 40 degrees have Germany firmly in its grip, the hospitals are working at their limits, and no bed is free. Then events came to a head – and in the middle of it all, around 80 staff members were pushed to their limits for two days.
Large-scale exercise in Vogelsberg: disaster control rehearses an emergency
Several large forest fires are reported, a train with 120 people on board allegedly derails in Schwalmtal, climate activists block an intersection in Alsfeld, the air conditioning in the hospital fails and the roof structure in the retirement home burns. Finally, the villages of Angersbach and Blitzenrod have to be evacuated within the next few hours.
“Extreme weather conditions, civil defense, natural disasters – many situations are possible and we have to be prepared for them,” emphasized District Administrator Dr. Jens Mischak (CDU). The district administration had sought professional support from an external agency. One from the country has been running since October last year Hesse funded training series.
The two staffs met every hour during the exercise, updated themselves and initiated the next steps. As the situation continued to deteriorate – 200 injured, a wildfire near Angersbach on five hectares, missing people at the Nidda reservoir – the district administrator, in coordination with the Interior Ministry, declared a disaster.
Of course, all of this met with huge media interest: even the Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) was there and answered questions from journalists with the district administrator. These were played by agency employees.
The reports, which were received at the control center of the Vogelsberg districtfell over themselves. But the civil protection officers calmly and prudently organized the information in their staff room, created situation maps, dispatched emergency services and set up staging areas for fire brigades who can replace their comrades in action.
The administrative staff met one floor down in the district administration. There it was considered whether orders needed to be issued. Of course it was about finances or the question of what would happen if the drinking water supply collapsed. Could milk trucks be used to deliver water to affected communities?
The administrative staff rated the exercise as successful. The newly established processes have proven themselves and potential for improvement has been identified. “The smoothly functioning interfaces to the disaster control staff are particularly positive,” explained First District Councilor Patrick Krug (SPD).
“The calm atmosphere led to a pleasant and orderly course of the exercise,” emphasized Marcell Büttner, head of the disaster control team. “The administrative staff of the district administration successfully completed its first exercise with a new composition under challenging real conditions,” praised District Administrator Mischak.
Just recently Fire brigade leaders from Vogelsberg practiced another emergency with the Bundeswehr – a crashed attack helicopter formed the scenario.
