Standby (DRK)
The Willingness With about 160,000 active members, the largest community of the German Red Cross and form a centerpiece of his forces. They are managed at the local level by the standby management, at the district level by the district standby management and at the state level by the provincial standby management. However, the readiness also forms the backbone of the voluntary social services of the German Red Cross. They provide a large part of the voluntary rescue service and disaster control . In order to fulfill the tasks assigned to them, the helpers are trained in the standby in various specialist services. The standby system in the DRK is defined and regulated in its own order (order of readiness). This is slightly different depending on the regional association. Readiness is usually set up locally by the local or district associations. Such local readiness of the DRK should not be confused with the tactical unit readiness . The Lower Saxony regional association of the DRK maintains its own voluntary Red Cross community, the FDB, as a "support unit" for special tasks. This is directly subordinate to the state standby management and supports the state association and subordinate organizations in the field of communication and technology.
Tasks of the DRK readiness
medical corps
The task of the medical service (SanDi or SanD) is to take care of injured and sick people in the event of a mass incidence of injured persons or major incidents or disasters. Above all, this includes the creation of the necessary infrastructure by setting up treatment stations and setting up rescue equipment holding areas.
Care service
The tasks of the care service (BtD) consist of the care and accommodation of those affected and the psychosocial support of those affected and emergency services (BNN = basic emergency care, KID = crisis intervention service, KIT = crisis intervention team, NFS = emergency chaplain, PSNV = psychosocial emergency care or NND) ). The kitchen subunit or the catering team either use their own field cooker ( "goulash cannon" ) or use fixed large kitchens (in companies, schools, kindergartens, etc.). Both those affected and the emergency services are provided with food and drinks. The accommodation sub-unit checks existing rooms for their suitability as accommodation and prepares them accordingly or erects temporary accommodation (tents, field houses). The most important tasks include registering those affected and bringing family members together. However, in the event of major damage, the latter task falls to the emergency services of the official information office.
Technology and safety (TuS / TeSi)
The technical and security service is responsible for the logistics and technical support of the emergency train. In the case of special damage situations, especially in the case of chemical or radioactive hazards, there are additional ABC units or teams can be formed from the hazard protection helpers of the sub-units. Among other things, there are ABC units in Berlin and Herrenberg for the decontamination of people (Dekon P) and devices (Dekon G). The TuS specialist service is also responsible for compliance with the safety regulations in use. He advises the managers in matters of accident prevention and occupational safety, regularly checks technical devices and materials and provides relevant evidence.
Information and communication (ICT)
Since there is always an increased need for communication channels in the event of major incidents , the German Red Cross has a specialist information and communication service in some district associations, which is sometimes also called the (old) telecommunications service. The members of these units are available to the on-site operations leaders as radio operators and documentation personnel, but also, for example, secure existing communication channels by laying field cables or expand them according to the needs of the on-site emergency services. In many cases these units have command vehicles of various sizes, telephone construction vehicles and other equipment vehicles and trailers.
social services
Often the willingness to work in their districts and home communities in the area of social work, in the form of z. B. Senior care and afternoons, but also with the care of donors as part of the blood donation service. According to the understanding of one's own organizational structure, these fields of activity are not assigned to the Red Cross community "readiness", but rather to the field of activity "social work", but the boundaries are often fluid because the people who fill these tasks with life are often the same.
Training / qualification
Technical training
There is a training calendar to ensure that all volunteers are trained as uniformly as possible. This provides basic training for every helper, consisting of
- First aid training
- Red Cross introductory seminar
- Medical training
- Basic training in the care service
- Basic training in technology and safety
- Basic training in the field of radio
- General part (basic training for participation in action)
After successfully completing this basic training, there is regular further training to become a specialist in one of the two core work areas of medical service and care service:
- Red Cross build-up seminar and, depending on the personal wishes of the helper or the personnel requirements of the respective readiness, further specialist service training
- Training as a specialist service assistant or
- Training as a technical service assistant for technology and safety
- Training to become a catering specialist
- Training to become a specialist in information and communication
Since 2010 (NRW) there is no longer the sanitary training San-A, -B, -C, only paramedics are trained. This training includes the content from the training courses San-A, -B, -C.
Further specializations are e.g. B. Radio / ICT and electricity / gas / water supply.
The aim of these professional qualifications is to train every helper as a “professional” for one subject area and as “a professional's assistant” for the other subject areas, thus achieving the highest possible level of employability and flexibility (multifunctionality).
Leadership / leadership training
Just as the emergency services of the DRK readiness must be qualified on a technical level, this also applies to the area of command services. Here the management hierarchy also specifies the qualification path:
- Squad leader / group leader
- Platoon leader
- Union leader
- Executives in leadership groups
- local operations manager
The DRK differentiates from the executives who have the task of leading mission formations, the executives who lead groups outside of missions. The difference is aimed at maintaining democratic structures outside of operations ( management ) versus the requirement of tight hierarchies in the case of operations ( management ).
The levels exist in the line of leadership
- Group leader (at local level, not everywhere)
- On-call manager (at local level)
- District on-call manager (-in and -arzt) (level of the district association)
- Regional on-call manager (regional level, several district associations, not everywhere)
- District on-call manager (-in and -arzt) (level of the district association, only in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, North Rhine and Bavaria)
- State on-call manager (-in and -arzt) (level of the state association)
- Federal emergency officer (federal level)
The leaders of readiness are in some regional associations of the DRK, such. B. in Westphalia-Lippe, called "Red Cross Ladder". The leaders of readiness at the various levels of organization are usually also the representatives of their readiness on the responsible board (born board members).
