Technical change, climatic changes, and social developments mean new challenges for the fire brigades, rescue services, and disaster control in the future.
This is the conclusion of the 66th annual conference of the Association for the Promotion of German Fire Protection (vfdb), which ended in Ulm. Around 650 experts from home and abroad spent three days finding out about the current state of science technology and security.
digital technology
What became particularly clear was the realization that tomorrow's fire departments and rescue services will no longer be able to meet the requirements of the future without extensive use of digital technology.
As was emphasized in one of the lectures on the last day of the congress, this also includes the use of virtual reality (VR) both for training purposes and in action.
digital twins
Even so-called 'digital twins' are no longer a utopia, it is possible, for example, to build a VR simulation
Even so-called 'digital twins' are no longer a utopia. It is possible, for example, to build a VR simulation with detailed images of reality.
“The basis for such a digital twin is the analysis of existing data such as construction drawings or construction plans,” explained Patrick D. Reschke from Northdocks GmbH and pointed out the numerous possible applications.
safe wooden construction
A forum on the topic of wooden buildings, which are becoming increasingly popular, also attracted widespread interest. From a firefighting perspective, Peter Bachmeier from the AGBF's Preventive Fire and Hazard Protection Working Group emphasized that sufficiently safe wooden construction is possible even in multi-story standard buildings up to building class 5.
“Planning and execution are crucial for this,” said Peter Bachmeier. The emergency services must be aware of the possible dangers in the event of a fire.
telemedicine
The system has enabled immediate, safe and reliable teleconsultation with an emergency doctor in a rescue operation
Given the constantly increasing number of operations and an increasing overload of emergency services in Germany, Jürgen Wolff, Chief Fire Director of the Aachen Professional Fire Department, and the Medical Director of the Aachen emergency service, Dr. Stefan Beckers, from positive experiences using telemedicine.
In 2014, the city introduced the teleemergency doctor service as the world's first comprehensive telemedical rescue assistance system in prehospital care.
Since then, according to the speakers, the system has enabled immediate, safe and reliable teleconsultation with an emergency doctor in a rescue operation.
digital pact
“Without using the technical possibilities, the rescuers will increasingly reach their limits,” said vfdb President, Dirk Aschenbrenner. At the same time, he repeated his call for a 'digital pact' for fire departments and rescue services.
Dirk Aschenbrenner stated, “Whether using tablets or telemedicine, drones or virtual reality – if we cannot keep up with modern technology, the level of protection will deteriorate drastically.”
Climate, society, technology
Vice President, Dr. Anja Hofmann-Böllinghaus summed up the congress in her closing remarks, “The motto of our conference was 'Climate, society, technology - everything changing?' We can and must replace the question mark with an exclamation mark. Yes, everything is changing!”
Protection, rescue, and security therefore require far-reaching effects on the future recruitment of young talent, training, equipment, and tactics. Digitalization plays a key role in this.
Interschutz
She described the vfdb conference as a complete success. It stands for a lively, functioning network.
Due to the trade fair for fire services, rescue services, civil protection, and security, INTERSCHUTZ from June 15th to 20th, 2020 in Hanover, the next vfdb annual conference will not take place for another two years. The venue is Münster.