Technisches Hilfswerk
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk THW (German for: German Federal Agency for Technical Relief) is an organisation of the German government.
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Tasks
The tasks of the THW are described in a law called Helferrechtsgesetz. These tasks are:
- technical relief in Germany
- with assignment by the government technical or humanitarian relief in foreign countries
- technical and logistical relief for other (German) GOs, NGOs or other authorities like fire brigades, police or the custom authorities.
History
After World War II the Technisches Hilfswerk was founded in 1950. The main purpose was the civil defense in case of a war. The largest disaster control action took place in August 2002 after the severe flooding of the Elbe river in eastern Germany. Totally over 20,000 members brought into action. Up to 10,000 people were helping simultanously along the Elbe and its tributaries. The largest action outside germany was in France in 2000. Storms destroyed much of the overhead electrical overland wires and overturned trees blocked many streets. The main work was supplying temporal electrical power the hospitals and other important institutions and rebuilding parts of the electrical system.
Organsiation
The THW is allocated all over Germany in 665 local bases, called Ortsverbände. 60,000 people are working for this organisation. The majority of those are volunteers while there are less than 1000 working full time in the administration of the organisation. Each Ortsverband maintains one or more Technische Züge (Technical Platoons), each consisting of one Zugtrupp (Command Squad) - comprised of four volunteers - and three Fachgruppen (specialized squads) comprised of nine to eighteen volunteers each. The main type (about 2 out of 3) of Fachgruppe is the Bergungsgruppe (Rescue and Salvage), equipped with heavy tools like hydraulic scissors, chain saws, pneumatic hammers, ...). Other Fachgruppen include Infrastruktur (Infrastructure), Räumen (Debris Clearance), Elektroversorgung (Electric Supply), Beleuchtung (Illumination), Wasserschaden / Pumpen (water-demage / pumping), Wassergefahren (water-hazard), Logistik (logistics), Ölschaden (Oil Pollution), Trinkwasserversorgung (Water Supply and Treatment) and others. For relief in foreign countries, there are four Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Bergung Ausland or SEEBA (rapid deployment unit search and rescue) (able to go airborne within six hours!) and five Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Wasserversorgung Ausland or SEEWA (rapid deployment water supply and treatment).
In Germany military service is mandatory for adult men. Instead of joining the military for nine months full-time, one may serve Wehrersatzdienst (substitute service). This service may either be Zivildinest (civilian service) (e.g. caring for elderly or disabled persons, also full-time) or joining an organization that is embedded in the Katastrophenschutz (desaster defense) or Zivilschutz (civil protection) for six years. The THW is one of those organizations, as well as volunteer fire brigades or various organizations engaged in emergency medical service. All of theese are part-time services (at least 120 hours each year), without pay. Also, joining the police will avoid having to join the military.
References
- THW - Homepage (http://www.thw.de) Official homepage, mostly in German with a summary in English
- Technisches Hilfswerk - German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (http://www.thw-nw.de/download/neue-flyer/thw_infoblatt_englisch.pdf) Short summary in English (PDF file)
