Large exercise in Homberg: Emergency services fight chaos and forest fire!

Large exercise in Homberg: Emergency services fight chaos and forest fire!

Homberg, Deutschland - In the past few days, a large-scale exercise of the rescue and helpers in Vogelsbergkreis took place, which was characterized by three demanding scenarios. Around 1,300 emergency services, including the fire brigade, police forces, medical emergency services, the Bundeswehr and the technical relief organization, were involved to test the cooperation in extreme situations.

The exercises took place in the Homberg region and included mass carambolage, a helicopter crash and an accident with dangerous goods. During the first exercise, a mass carambolage was simulated with a fully occupied coach in which over 105 injuries of both kinds were affected. Here the emergency services had to provide medical help and transport the injured into surrounding clinics.

use scenarios at a glance

In another scenario, a combat helicopter was troubled during a practice flight near a forest campsite and crashed. This not only led to a forest fire that had to be contained as soon as possible, but also called for 300 emergency services. The realistic representation of the dangers helped the forces to sharpen their responsiveness.

In addition, there was a scenario in which a dangerous goods truck at a discharge station suffered a leakage station, which brought additional risks. A further 100 rescue workers were required to control the risk and to ensure the correct procedure.

The entire exercise has been prepared for about two years to guarantee a smooth process and to improve communication among the various organizations. The participating units included over 200 fire engines, 50 rescue and several police helicopters, which illustrated the dimension and complexity of the exercise.

The head of operations, district fire inspector Marcell Büttner, explained that the exercise enables it to test and optimize the entire rescue chain. A central point was also the defect management, in which not all resources are available at the same time in one place, which is often the case in realistic emergency situations.

The German Red Cross, which offered over 850 meals, provided the catering of the participants and thus emphasized another element of support and cooperation.

The large exercise offers an important insight into the possibilities and challenges of the emergency services and shows how well the different organizations can work together to be prepared for extreme situations. The practical experience that the emergency services gained will have a positive impact on the future operational readiness, as well as at www.oberhessische-zeitung.de is reported in detail.