BS-R-3: Training exercises

The picture shows a person in action with a climbing harness hooked into a metal frame.Click to enlarge
To ensure that every move is perfect in an emergency, helpers regularly train for various scenarios.
Source: Photograph: © Jörg Hüttenhölscher / stock.adobe.com

2019 Monitoring Report on the German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change

Table of Contents

 

BS-R-3: Training exercises

On the whole, the THW is able to carry out the necessary amount of training exercises adequately, both in terms of time and personnel, even in years when extreme events have to be dealt with. In 2013 the heavy operational burden caused by early-summer flooding resulted in a relatively low participation in training exercises.

Two time series show the development of the exercise activities for the years from 2005 to 2017. The values for the year 2005 are set as an index to 100. One line shows the total exercise hours with a significant downward trend. In 2015, there was a temporarily stronger slump. The second line shows the development of exercise participants, also with a significant downward trend.
BS-R-3: Training exercises

Two time series show the development of the exercise activities for the years from 2005 to 2017. The values for the year 2005 are set as an index to 100. One line shows the total exercise hours with a significant downward trend. In 2015, there was a temporarily stronger slump. The second line shows the development of exercise participants, also with a significant downward trend.

Source: THW (training statistics)
 

Exercises – training for a real-life emergency

By means of regular training exercises the emergency services safeguard the foundation for appropriate action in extreme situations; it is also the basis of targeted crisis management. Regular training enables the emergency services to act appropriately, both in respect of organising and co-ordinating operations and also in providing assistance on site. There is no specific climate-related aspect required for these exercises as far as preparing for the impacts of climate change is concerned, because the potential events arising will not differ much from the way they are occurring now. Coping with heavy rainfall and storms but also flooding events or periods of hot weather is part of the core remit of civil protection. New challenges may arise, above all, from increases in frequency and intensity of such events in future and also increasingly from a potential overlap as to when they occur.

Basically, training exercises for civil protection can be carried out in two different ways: either as a full-scale exercise within a real training scenario or as a (simulated) command post exercise. The purpose of the latter is to examine the communication structures and to prepare the authorities responsible for emergency services for a real emergency. This is because after training or genuine emergencies it has often emerged that there is room for improvement in civil protection, especially in terms of inter- organisational communication and co-ordination. For this reason, training exercises in civil protection are usually structured in a way as to involve units from various regions and – where appropriate – with different types of specialisation including their material equipment, thus allowing them to train jointly.

In this process, the frequency of, and participation in, exercises are subject to various influencing factors. This can mean on occasion that an exercise is slightly reduced in scale without affecting the efficacy of service personnel. For example, in years with increased frequency of emergency situations, the number of participants and hours trained may be diminished because the emergency personnel lack the time to participate or they need to be allowed the necessary time to rest. Any deficiency in routine responses acquired in training exercises will then be offset by experience gained in real-life emergencies.

Increasingly, one obstacle to participation in exercises is a lack of willingness on the part of employers to release the THW’s or other organisations’ voluntary helpers from their paid work for the purpose of participating in training exercises. In years with high person hours, this can be one of the reasons why non-participation in training exercises is granted, thus making it unnecessary for helpers to request yet more release from their paid occupation.

Since 2005 there has been a significant decline in the number of participants in training exercises. During the years 2005–2012 approximately 19,500 full-time and voluntary personnel took part in the THW’s exercises. In 2013, the number of participants was clearly below average, amounting to some 16,000 individuals. This was due to major operational efforts required for dealing with early-summer flooding in the catchment areas of Danube and Elbe. Between 2013 and 2017, on average just short of 17,000 helpers participated. The number of training hours carried out fluctuated in the period in question between approximately 308,000 and 400,000 hours while the mean value of training hours carried out was slightly above 365,000. The lowest number of training hours – slightly above 308,000 hours – occurred in 2015. This was caused by greater involvement of THW in the co-ordination and implementation of finding accommodation for refugees in Germany.

There are indeed other organisations which take on tasks in connection with civil protection; they too participate in training exercises thus preparing themselves for coping with the challenges of weather-related extreme events. However, the THW’s figures do not permit any conclusions regarding the training regimes of other organisations.

 

Interfaces

BS-I-1: Person hours required for dealing with damage from weather-related incidents

 

Objectives

Adaptation of existing crisis management and emergency prevention to current requirements and future developments such as climate change (DAS, ch. 3.2.14)