Civil Protection & Crisis Management

This section provides an overview of key players and terms relating to civil protection and crisis management.


Civil Protection

Civil protection encompasses all non-police and non-military measures designed to protect the population and its means of subsistence from disasters and other serious emergencies, as well as from the effects of wars and armed conflicts.

Civil protection, as an umbrella term, encompasses all tasks and measures:

  • local authorities and the federal states in civil protection
  • the Federal Government’s role in civil defence



  • Civil protection

    A disaster is defined as an incident that, to an unusual extent, endangers or adversely affects the lives, health or essential supplies of the population, animals, significant material assets or the natural resources on which life depends. To deal with such events, the coordinated management of all civil protection measures and the deployment of civil protection units and facilities are required.

    Emergency response in the event of a disaster is the responsibility of the districts and independent towns. Within the Rodgau municipal area, the Lower Civil Protection Authority is responsible.

    The lower-level civil protection authority takes preparatory measures in the event of a disaster, for example by drawing up alert and operational plans and establishing units and facilities for the prevention of hazards.

    There are eight specialist services for this purpose, with the following areas of responsibility:

    1. Fire protection
    2. Hazardous Substances – ABC (nuclear, biological and chemical hazards)
    3. Medical services
    4. Support
    5. Water rescue
    6. Recovery
    7. Repair
    8. Leadership, information and communication

    The civil protection system includes partner organisations such as:

    • Fire service (professional and voluntary fire brigades)
    • Workers’ Samaritan Federation (ASB)
    • German Red Cross (DRK)
    • Johanniter Accident Relief (JUH)
    • Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW)
    • German Life-Saving Association (DLRG)
    • Local police and Federal Police
    • German Armed Forces

  • Civil Defence

    Protecting the population from the effects of war and the associated consequences is a federal responsibility as part of civil defence. This is carried out on behalf of the federal government by the federal states. The federal government provides vehicles, equipment and funding. However, these resources are also available for peacetime disaster management by the federal states and local authorities. In Rodgau, civil defence is organised alongside disaster management within the Fire Service’s administrative office.

    The duties include, amongst other things,

    • Self-defence
    • Public warnings (warning service)
    • Emergency drinking water supply


Crisis management

Crisis management establishes the conceptual and organisational framework necessary to restore normality as quickly as possible following an exceptional situation, through the coordinated efforts of state and non-state actors.

It covers all crisis measures

  • Prevention
  • Preparation
  • Detection
  • Coping
  • Follow-up


  • Crisis management

    Definition of ‘crisis’:

    When situations involving danger and damage become so acute that the everyday measures and resources for preventing and reducing damage are no longer sufficient, this constitutes a crisis.

    Challenges of crisis management and the role of the local authority

    Dependence on vital infrastructure, the consequences of climate change and the threat posed by criminal acts present new challenges for crisis management in civil protection. It is therefore to be expected that extreme weather events such as storms, heavy rainfall, heatwaves and droughts will increase in frequency and intensity as a result of climate change. These, as well as criminal acts (cybercrime), can affect critical infrastructure (electricity, drinking water, wastewater, telecommunications, healthcare) and lead to disruptions in these sectors. In such situations, not only are civil protection response measures required, but the city administration must also take swift and coordinated administrative decisions.

    Tasks

    • Risk analysis
    • Development of measures to reduce risks
    • Risk communication, including measures to strengthen the public’s capacity for self-help
    • ongoing review and adaptation of procedures and structures
    • Training and drills for the city’s crisis management teams