popular logistics

According to the website of the THW (Technische Hilfswerk, or “Federal Agency for Technical Relief”), a recent conference continued what appears to be an ongoing discussion about cross-border cooperation:

Cooperation among civil protection organisations in the European Union (EU) was one of the key topics at the “Desaster [sic] Management 2008″ symposium in Schweinfurt last weekend. Dr. Manfred Schmidt, Head of the Department for Crisis Management and Protection of the Population at the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Dr. Peter Billing from the EU Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), and THW representatives spoke about the integration of the THW into the EU ‘Community Mechanism’.

Using past intervention missions as examples, Dr. Billing from the Civil Protection Unit at the European Commission illustrated the quality of European cooperation. Dr. Schmidt, who is the departmental head at the Interior Ministry responsible for the THW, went into more detail in his talk about the German contribution to cross-border disaster relief: an important part of this is based on the competencies at the THW. Representatives of the THW management held two lectures on the topics “The THW within the European Community Mechanism” and “Training EU Experts”, explaining the THW’s international work to the congress participants.

Quality of European cooperation, from the THW English-language website.

One doesn’t get the sense that this is a controversial discussion. The THW has assisted other countries, including France, in recent years, and this year has had teams in Cyprus, Myanmar, and China. And it’s only one of a number of German disaster relief organizations.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Germany’s population will be 82.3 million as of July 2008. For that population, Germany has 1,383,730 firefighters, mostly volunteers. The THW - which can be an alternative to compulsory military service, has 800,000 active volunteers, and about 800 in full-time administrative roles. And their organizational scheme is:

The main type of THW unit (about two out of three) is one of two Bergungsgruppe (1st and 2nd Rescue Groups), equipped with heavy tools like hydraulic cutting devices, chain saws, and pneumatic hammers.

The Fachgruppen (Technical Units) include:

* Infrastruktur (Infrastructure),
* Räumen (Debris Clearance),
* Sprengen (Demolition/Blasting),
* Elektroversorgung (Electricity Supply),
* Beleuchtung (Illumination),
* Wasserschaden / Pumpen (Water Damage / Pumps),
* Wassergefahren (Water Hazards),
* Logistik (Logistics),
* Ölschaden (Oil Pollution),
* Trinkwasserversorgung (Water Supply and Treatment),
* Führung und Kommunikation (Command, Control and Communication), and
* Ortung (Search and Detection).

And that’s not all; they’ve got four rapid-deployment (six-hour) SAR teams ready for foreign assignments, and five foreign assignment water-purification teams.

During Katrina, 89 German volunteers came to the United States to assist in levee repair. Loren Cobb of The Quaker Economist published this 2005 piece on the curious lack of attention by United States domestic media.

From Jill Fehrenbacher and Sarah Rich at Inhabitat, we learned about Waterstudio:

In the months following Katrina, one of the most interesting design solutions we found for dealing with rising water levels was the amphibious architecture of Dutch firm Waterstudio. Architect Koen Olthius specializes in a unique technology that allows land-based buildings to detach from the ground and float under rising water conditions. Olthius’ claim to fame is that he focuses exclusively on aqueous design - design for building in, on and at the water - in a country where water dominates the landscape.

Link to Inhabitat’s post.

This design - if a flood-prone city grid were designed around having, say, 10% of its building stock built this way - would provide precious evacuation time - and since these structures are might well survive serious flooding - they’re the avant-garde of the recovery. Once the water recedes - these structures won’t need to be rebuilt.

According to a press release from Cygnus Business Media, which arranges the conference,

With the support and confidence of leading industry organizations, the highly regarded Damage Prevention Conference & Expo will celebrate its 10th anniversary this December 5 & 6 at the Las Vegas Hilton. The conference and exhibit floor responds to the demand for innovative products, services and training related to preventing damage to the nation’s underground infrastructure and serves professionals from municipalities; oil & gas facilities; telecom, CATV, and power companies; One-Call centers; excavation companies; utility contractors; and SUE firms. This year, show organizers are especially pleased to announce exclusive package pricing developed to offer the most productive and economical options available for companies sending teams of damage prevention professionals.

For those of you who aren’t following this - what you need to know is that the “one-call centers,” which are mandated by federal law, are

You’ve put out a call for volunteers for your brand-new local emergency response organization. It’s so new that you don’t even have a name yet.Follow past the jump for more details and the prizes.

Another outstanding resource from Brian Steckler from the Naval Postgraduate School and the Center for the Study of Hastily Formed Networks for Humantarian Assistance/Disaster Relief    -

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been compiling a Responder Knowledge Base, much of which is non-classified,  has what appears to be an encyclopedic collection of information about:

• equipment
• equipment grants
• standards
• best practices

If you’re a registered user (first responder, paid or volunteer, planner - someone with a verifiable legitimate use), there’s an “ask an expert” submission form - and the staff promises to try to answer questions, via email, within a week. I’m going to submit a couple of questions that have been, of late, frustrating my attempts to do some communications planning and budgeting.