Dramatic DLRG exercise: When football fans are stranded in the flood!

Dramatic DLRG exercise: When football fans are stranded in the flood!

An incredible training weekend experienced around 230 emergency services from the German Life Rettungs Society (DLRG) North Rhine at the Bruchtersperre and Lingesetelsolsperre in Marienheide! They faced spectacular disaster scenarios: a campsite is surprised by angry rainfare, football fans are desperately looking for protection! What to do in such a chaos?

Under the pressure of realistic practice scenarios, the rescuers not only trained the rescue of flooded people, but also to combat a simulated forest fire. Frank Zantis, head of DLRG North Rhine, praised the outstanding implementation: "A fire on the bank, a flood boat and the challenge of saving injured - that is demanding!" They fought against the flames with a portfolio injection from a boat. This brought them to their limits, as did the evacuation of seriously injured people who had to be reanimated both on the water and on land. The stress factors were enormous!

cooperation in extreme situations

The exercise extended throughout the weekend and also included the exchange with other emergency services. Fire brigade, technical relief organization (THW), German Red Cross (DRK) and Malteser Hilfsdienst (MHD) were on site and supported the DLRG in the challenge. Actors slipped into the roles of the sometimes drunk fan groups, which made the exercise even more realistic. "We wanted to confront the emergency services with realistic situations," said Zantis. The participants learned where they best let the rescue boats to water and how they can quickly hand over the injured people to the emergency services.

In the afternoon, the exercise management rated the weekend extremely positively. "Some have reached their limits, but there are such exercises for that," emphasized Zantis. Planning for the next year is already underway, because the DLRG is determined to be even better prepared in order to be able to help with future disaster help. The challenges are huge, but the rescuers are ready to ensure people's safety - 365 days a year!