It tastes earthy, very natural, some even think it’s “super good”. Not everyone dared to take a sip of the water, which shortly before was sloshing yellowish in a glass carafe. Now it has coagulated through a lady’s stocking and through an ingenious construction of gravel, quartz sand, charcoal and cloth – and at first glance it now looks clear.
Only after the taste test does civil protection officer Detlef Hacker from the medical disaster relief organization (MHW) lead the participants of the self-help course into the garden – and reveal the secret: the water comes from the rain barrel behind the house, a few dead insects and undefinable suspended matter swim in it the cloudy broth. A moment of shock for the participants – then surprise at how easy it is to obtain drinking water in an emergency.
Concern about blackout as a motivation
Worrying about a blackout motivated most of them: Around 80 people learned survival techniques at the MHW in Tuntenhausen (Upper Bavaria) on Saturday: alternative sources of drinking water, stockpiling for emergencies and cooking without electricity, but also initial wound care and firefighting.
“I’m really excited about it,” says Manuela Maria Thaller, who is there with her husband. “We learned a lot.” Rolf Müller started shopping during the course. He loaded a gas cooker and other cooking utensils into his virtual shopping cart. “I’m Swabian, I’m risk-averse,” he jokes about registering for the course. Yes, he just wants to be prepared.
The training is in great demand, and the topic is “more topical than ever,” says the head of operations and President of the MHW, Robert Schmitt. “When there are major crises, the courses are more than fully booked.” The occasions were the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, the flood in the Ahr valley and now the war in Ukraine. “We live in very troubled and challenging times.” It’s no use “if we turn on the sirens again – if we don’t explain to the citizens what they have to do then”.
Civil defense back in focus
Civil defense is back in focus. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said on the anniversary of the flood disaster: “It is clear to me that we need a new start in civil protection.” The minister also spoke of major omissions in recent years and decades. “We’ve felt safe for too long.”
The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) addresses people on its website: “Are you fit when it comes to emergency preparedness? Do you have a supply at home when a storm is raging outside? Are your most important documents ready to hand if there is a fire or a Bomb disposal force you out of the house?”
It is important that citizens deal with the topic, says MHW operations manager Schmitt. “Anyone who is prepared and can perhaps help their neighbors relieves us emergency services.” Nationwide, however, there is no comparable range of courses as at the MHW.
When the power goes out…
Schmitt advises: water and food at home for two weeks, the car with a full tank and a radio that runs on batteries to track information from the authorities. Because if the electricity stays off, nothing works: no running water, no flushing toilets, no stove, no elevator, no telephone and no internet. Not only the energy shortage could trigger a blackout, but also natural disasters or extreme weather, sabotage or cyber attacks.
The authorities are also facing serious problems. The digital radio network for emergency services could collapse, as MHW spokesman Matthias Fischer says. The emergency vehicles are therefore again equipped with analog radios. If there is also a lack of fuel, it becomes explosive. “You go into the cold season unprepared,” warns Fischer. The critical infrastructure would have to be better supported and, for example, not only clinics but also old people’s homes, fire and rescue stations would have to be secured with emergency power.
Joint preparation
In southern Bavaria, districts are currently preparing together. “We have to concentrate on the critical infrastructure,” says the Traunstein District Administrator Siegfried Walch (CSU). These included clinics, rescue services, nursing homes, digital communication, water supply, authorities, payment systems and logistics. “The security situation worsens rapidly when the critical infrastructure no longer works.”
Some in the MHW course have already taken precautions: with groceries, stoves, some even with their own emergency generator – or with a packed backpack. “We have emergency backpacks at home,” says the deputy state manager of the ASB, Nadine Naujoks, who is there with her husband and two children. “It doesn’t have to be a major natural disaster. It can simply be that the house next door is on fire and you have to leave.” For her and her family, the course is “a little survival vacation.”
