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Civil protection and disaster medicine in Germany today

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to outline the development of disaster medicine services in Germany and the preparedness of the security and rescue forces for mass casualty incidents after an accident, a natural disaster or a terrorist attack.

Method

The method used was review of articles and interview with experts.

Results

The plane crash at the 1988 Ramstein air show highlighted problems in the approach to incident management. Following this event, Germany improved the medical management of major incidents. At the railway accident in Eschede in 1998, a “proof of concept” was evident. The newest increases of terrorist threats were also turning points in the further development of disaster medicine in Germany.

Conclusions

Emergency medical training must be adapted to the increase in disasters, mass casualty incidents, and terrorist threats.

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Conflicts of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery, University Clinics Bonn, Sigmund Freud Str. 25, 53127, Bonn, Germany

    Philipp Fischer & Koroush Kabir

  2. Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery, University of Witten/Herdecke, Cologne-Merheim Medical Center, Cologne, Germany

    Arasch Wafaisade

  3. Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery Hospital Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany

    Hermann Bail

  4. German Institute of Disaster Medicine Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Bernd Domres

  5. Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery Hospital Ludwigshafen, Ludwigshafen, Germany

    Thomas Braun

Authors
  1. Philipp Fischer
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  2. Arasch Wafaisade
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  3. Hermann Bail
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  4. Bernd Domres
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  5. Koroush Kabir
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  6. Thomas Braun
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philipp Fischer.

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Fischer, P., Wafaisade, A., Bail, H. et al. Civil protection and disaster medicine in Germany today. Langenbecks Arch Surg 396, 523–528 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-011-0767-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-011-0767-x

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