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“Experience shows that a fire can be expected
to break out at just about any time.
The fact that in many buildings no fire
breaks out for decades …is a matter of
good fortune for those concerned, and
this good fortune can run out at any time!”
(Münster Higher Administrative Court
10 A 363/86 dated 11 December 1987)
If one accepts the fact that there is no
such thing as one hundred percent safety –
neither when it comes to fires, accidents
or explosions, nor when it comes to terrorist
attacks – the obvious question to ask is
how the consequences can be limited, the
number of casualties minimized and the
damage to property reduced.
It is often the case that emergency and
rescue professionals are only able to take
action once there have already been human
casualties or an incident has taken on the
dimension of a serious emergency.
Three examples:
18 February 2002: The use by security
personnel of pepper spray in a large discotheque
in Chicago resulted in a mass panic,
with 21 of the disco's 500 guests dying in
the first few minutes of the incident.
17 February 2003: During a rock concert
in a night club in West Warwick the stage
caught fire as a result of the pyrotechnics
used during the stage show. Of the approx.
300 guests, 96 died and 187 were injured.
31 December 2004: 175 people died when
guests let off fire crackers in a Buenos
Aires discotheque, setting alight to the ceiling
decoration. The emergency exits were
sealed with thick wire.
One fact common to all three of the above
examples is that the emergency and rescue
services did not stand a chance – despite
the fact that there had been serious violations
of legal regulations – as the victims
were already dead by the time they arrived
on the scene.
In the event of fires, explosions, accidents,
bomb threats and terrorist attacks, especially
in hotels, restaurants, shopping centres,
sports and leisure centres, hospitals, old
people's and nursing homes and the like,
the staff and management of the organization
in question have a particular duty to
save the lives and protect the health of their
guests, visitors, customers and patients,
who have little or no knowledge of the safety
facilities and escape routes. In hazard
situations, staff and managers become role
models for guests, visitors or customers to
follow.
Nonetheless, employees and managers are
generally not given the proper training to
ensure they can act quickly and with the
necessary degree of focus in the event of
extreme situations.
Closing the reaction gap
When an emergency occurs, however, there
is a "reaction gap" of generally around 10 to
15 minutes before the emergency services,
e.g. police, fire brigade etc. are able to take
action.
Dräger Safety has developed and launched
onto the market a range of services which
enable the staff and managers of companies
to take effective primary action during this
"reaction gap", thus preparing the ground
as best they can for the work of the fire
brigade and police.
Among other things, these services include
providing practical training in how to handle
and operate portable fire extinguishers, fire
prevention and evacuation helper training,
conducting evacuation exercises, training
for crisis management and crisis communication,
and a seminar on how to behave in
hazard situations.
The seminar entitled "Training in how to
behave in hazard situations“ is targeted
particularly towards management staff and
teaches them how to remain in control even
in extreme situations.
The goals of the training seminar are as
follows:
- Self-knowledge regarding how one is
likely to respond under extreme conditions
- Dealing competently with hazardous
situations
- Understanding of the need for emergency training
- Coordination, communication and cooperation with professional emergency and rescue personnel
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Seminar participants learn how to analyse
likely hazard types and hazard situations
within the company, how to recognize hazard
situations and assess possible developments,
initiate the necessary immediate
action and create the optimum conditions
for the work of the professional emergency
teams.
The participants are subjected to genuine
stress thanks to the use of outdoor training
elements. They are guided by experienced
trainers and supervised by psychologists.
They learn how to overcome their fears and
correctly apply the technical knowledge
they have acquired even under stress in
hazardous situations.
To pay tribute to companies who take
particular steps to implement a system of
hazard prevention within their organizations,
thereby raising safety standards for their
guests, visitors, customers and employees,
Dräger Safety AG & Co. KGaA (Lübeck)
created the "Safety Star".
Although the "Safety Star" is not a means
of checking that official requirements are
met, it does presuppose compliance with all
the relevant legal regulations and standards.
The star is awarded to companies which not
only empower their managers to retain their
leadership competence in extreme situations
but which also teach their staff how
to undertake primary action to tackle an
emergency.
On 11 May 2005 the "Safety Star“ was
awarded, for the first time, to two top-class
Berlin hotels – the "Swissôtel Berlin am
Kurfürstendamm“ and the "Hotel Alsterhof
Berlin“. Managing executives from both
hotels had attended a seminar in 2004 on
"Training in how to behave in hazard situations".
During the course of the training seminar,
the idea of developing a common strategy
for safety and hazard defence in hazard
situations emerged: the managers from the
two hotels agreed to support each other in
the event of fires, accidents, bomb threats,
terrorist attacks etc., e.g. by accommodating
the guests of the affected hotel in the case
of evacuation, or by providing a supply of
drinks and food.
On 11 May 2005, staff of the "Swissôtel“
and the "Alsterhof" were then given joint
instruction and practical training in the
handling and operation of portable fire
extinguishers.
On this occasion, Dieter Hesse, head of
Dräger's Sales Region East, awarded the
"Safety Star" to the directors of the two
hotels, Andrea Sudfeld and Gerhard
Struger, in the presence of representatives
of the press and the Berlin Fire Brigade.
In his speech, Dieter Hesse paid tribute
to how well the two hotels had prepared
themselves for a united approach in hazard
situations and stressed that all three partners
– Dräger Safety, the "Swissôtel“ and
the "Alsterhof" - were thus contributing to
a new holistic understanding throughout
society of the need for safety and hazard
defence.
Dr Peter Schmiedtchen
Dräger Safety AG & Co. KGaA
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Dräger Safety AG & Co. KGaA |
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Revalstrasse 1 |
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23560 Luebeck, Germany |
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Tel +49 451 882 0
Fax +49 451 882 2080
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