DRK relief train

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The DRK relief train existed from 1953 to 2007 and during this time it was the only supra-regional civil protection and disaster control unit in Germany . It was set up by the German Red Cross (DRK) at the suggestion of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with the support of the Federal Ministry of the Interior from 1953 and dissolved in 2007 as part of new concepts in German disaster control. The DRK relief train had sub-units for the areas of medical service , support service , nursing and nursing assistance service, technical service and telecommunications service and could therefore work both in cooperation with the local and regional units of disaster control and independently. It consisted of nine departments at different locations in Germany, each of which had a strength of 104 helpers.

history

1952 to 1968 - From the foundation to the development of the disaster control

In 1952, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arranged for national Red Cross societies in several countries to set up supraregional units to provide assistance at the national and international level , primarily due to the experience of the Second World War . These units should be deployable quickly, organized in a decentralized manner and able to work independently. The ideas of the ICRC were implemented by the DRK in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of the Interior from 1953 in the form of the DRK relief train. The Federal Government was particularly interested in the aid train's participation in the civil protection system, which was then being set up, and therefore supported the establishment of the aid train financially. In 1962, the first large-scale deployment of the relief train on a national level followed as part of the storm surge disaster in Hamburg . Several squadrons in Hamburg and the neighboring states of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein mainly provided care and technical assistance. A similar mission in 1965 led the emergency train squadron IV from Westphalia-Lippe to East Westphalia .

The planning at the time provided for twelve squadrons at different locations, which were divided into A, B and C squadrons according to their priority. When setting up, only the A-squadrons were initially fully set up and equipped, while the B and C-squadrons were initially only partially equipped. Two squadrons were given up a short time later, so that the relief train consisted of ten squadrons for a long time. It soon became apparent that the focus of the activity, in addition to the medical service, was in the field of care service. In the 1960s, the radiation protection service was another important field of activity. The rescue squadrons had a radiation protection train with the appropriate technical equipment.

1968 to 1980 - Increase in foreign assignments

With the establishment of the disaster control in Germany based on the "Law on the Extension of Disaster Control" in 1968, the main focus of the relief train shifted further to the care service and to support the units of the regular disaster control. The squadrons were converted into ten departments. From this time on, the DRK increasingly used the aid train for its foreign aid, so that the number of deployments abroad increased significantly. These took the aid train to East Pakistan , Bangladesh , Angola , Peru , Nicaragua , Vietnam and Turkey, among others .

1980 to 1995 - The relief train contract

In 1980 there was an important change for the DRK relief train when the so-called relief train contract was signed between the DRK Presidium and the Federal Ministry of the Interior. With this contract, the federal government undertook to support the relief train with annual payments of around 2.8 million Deutschmarks . In return, she was given the right to request an aid train deployment in the field of civil defense or humanitarian aid abroad. This also gave other authorities, especially the federal states, the option of requesting them through administrative assistance under Article 35 of the Basic Law . However, this regulation subsequently proved to be disadvantageous for the financing, since a desirable contribution by the federal states to the holding costs would have represented inadmissible double financing.

The operations of the aid train during this time include, among other things, the participation in the transport of relief goods to Poland in 1980/81, in the relief operations after the Spitak earthquake in 1988 and in the accommodation and care of GDR emigrants in 1989, especially in Bavaria . In 1993, the DRK decided on a new strength and equipment concept for the rescue train, which should be reduced in size and modernized in its equipment. Two years later the Federal Ministry of the Interior terminated the emergency train contract. Up until March 1998, the federal government still contributed half of the costs for the maintenance of the relief train. Since then, it has been financed exclusively from the organization's own funds and without public subsidies. With the termination of the contract, the federal government and the federal states also lost their contractually stipulated right to use the aid train on request.

1995 to 2007 - The new concept

The loss of public funding resulted in a reduction in the capacity of the rescue train to around a third of its previous equipment and, with regard to the cooperation with the disaster control units, a further concentration on certain core tasks. The changeover to the new financing and equipment concept was almost completely completed in 2000. The performance of the relief train was now geared towards supplying around 10,000 people. In addition, the structure of the departments was further modularized than before, so that parts of the relief train departments could also work in cooperation with the local disaster control units. During the Elbe flood in 2002 , the largest deployment in the history of the DRK after the Second World War, the relief train department III (Rhineland-Palatinate) were in Dessau and Magdeburg , the auxiliary train department IV (Westphalia) in Schönebeck , the auxiliary train department V (Hesse) in Dresden and the relief train department VIII (Lower Saxony) in Jesteburg in action, other departments participated in the transport of operational material to the disaster area or were on standby.

2007 to 2010 - dissolution

At the beginning of 2007 it was decided to dissolve the DRK relief train in its existing form. In addition to financial reasons, the new structures of civil protection and disaster control were probably also decisive. The DRK Federal Association is concentrating its provision for disaster relief at home and abroad in the new logistics center at Schönefeld Airport in Berlin. Material and vehicles of the relief train were partly transferred to the DRK regional associations, which set up their own provision on their own. Some state associations largely took over the structures of the respective relief train department, while others built up their own operational reserve without taking over former relief train material or vehicles. At the beginning of 2010, the relief train was completely disbanded.

Assignments and tasks

The central task of the DRK relief train was to support the regular civil protection and disaster control in the event of major incidents , dangerous situations and civil defense situations . The DRK relief train was particularly active on request when the local and regional civil and disaster control units had reached their capacity limits due to the scope or duration of the deployment. In addition, at the request of the ICRC, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, foreign national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Federal Government within the framework of the "EU Community Procedure for Mutual Cross-Border Aid of the EU Countries ”can also be used internationally.

In the last valid conception of the relief train, its tasks concentrated on the transition phase of a care mission. In this phase, if necessary, he was active in supporting the support units of the regular disaster control, which managed the catching phase. A single relief train department was able to take over the accommodation and care of around 1,000 people in need, even in the long term. The food reserve realized through storage and contractually guaranteed delivery times with wholesale markets was at least three days. Equipping a department also enabled the establishment and operation of a care area with 45 beds per department as well as the self-sufficient construction of the necessary infrastructure for communication , transport , power supply and the provision of up to 150,000 liters of drinking water per day . Each emergency train department was ready in their Ausrückbereich within twelve hours after the alert, for use outside their own area existed no fixed period of help .

Structure and locations

The DRK relief train last consisted of nine departments (department 10 in Bavaria was dissolved at the end of the 1980s) at various locations in Germany. Each department had a target strength of 104 helpers (plus additional helpers at some locations, see below) and thus had the staffing of around three trains . Depending on the location, a double or triple occupation was planned. Contrary to its name, the DRK relief train was a large association (Association III) in terms of its size . In addition to the joint work of all departments under the leadership of the emergency train central department, each department could also work independently. The DRK relief train had a total of around 290 vehicles. The material equipment included, for example, 36 accommodation tents ( SG tents ) with approx. 30 square meters each and eight accommodation tents with 20 square meters of usable space each, 1,500 sleeping bags, 500 camp beds, 90 hospital beds, as well as basic clothing, hygiene articles and eating utensils for 1,500 people .

The departments were divided into the following components:

  • Department management with
    • a leadership group
    • a communication group (with an additional team of telecommunication centers at some locations)
    • a transport group
  • five care groups for the accommodation and social care of those affected
  • a catering group (with an additional group of kitchen containers at some locations)
  • an ambulance and care group
  • a medical group
  • Technical service with
    • a drinking water treatment group (according to the international standard "Emergency Response Unit Specialized Water")
    • an electrical group
    • a technical group
    • a maintenance group (not in all departments)

The members of the emergency train departments were voluntary helpers from the DRK communities in the vicinity of the respective location. The occupation and training of the sub-units was usually entirely the responsibility of a DRK district association. As a rule, all positions on the rescue train were manned at least twice to ensure that sufficient helpers were available in the event of an emergency.

The locations of the relief train departments were until the beginning of 2007:

  • I - Meckenheim-Merl (DRK Presidium)
  • II - Kirchheim / Teck (LV Baden-Württemberg)
  • III - Sprendlingen (LV Rhineland-Palatinate)
  • IV - Nottuln (LV Westphalia-Lippe)
  • V - Fritzlar (LV Hessen)
  • VI - Mönchengladbach (LV North Rhine)
  • VII - Raisdorf (LV Schleswig-Holstein)
  • VIII - Hanover (LV Lower Saxony)
  • IX - Hamburg (LV Hamburg)
  • X - Baar-Ebenhausen (Bavarian Red Cross) (already dissolved at the end of the 1980s)

After reunification , the former aid train of the German Red Cross of the GDR located in Leipzig was initially taken over, but later dissolved.

Furnishing

Motor vehicles of a rescue train department:

  • heavy trucks
  • Truck trailer
  • Small truck (transporter double cab)
  • Personnel transport vehicle
  • Lead vehicle
  • Motorcycle
  • Ambulance (all-wheel drive)
  • Disaster control trailer with material from a mobile medical station
  • Trailer replacement power generator
  • Telephone construction vehicle
  • Drinking water treatment plant (van with trailer)
  • Drinking water container, drinking water tank
  • Field kitchens (trailers)
  • Kitchen container (only partially available)
  • Repair container (only partially available)

For the operation, the vehicles kept centrally from the emergency services department were supplemented by vehicles from the DRK district associations, especially for personnel transport.

Material in the warehouse of an auxiliary train department:

  • Cover
  • Sleeping bags
  • Camp beds, bunk beds
  • Tents of various sizes
  • Tent heaters
  • Emergency clothing for those affected
  • Medical supplies
  • Sanitary material
  • Care equipment
  • Kitchen equipment
  • Drinking water treatment plants
  • Care equipment with 30 care beds and care needs
  • technical device such as power generator, lighting material

literature

  • Ch. Brodesser: The relief train of the German Red Cross. In: Hanno Peter (Hrsg.): The care service - basics and practice. 2nd Edition. Stumpf & Kossendey, Edewecht 2001, ISBN 3-93-275036-5