Technisches Hilfswerk - Field Organisation

Field Organisation

The THW is stationed all over Germany in 668 local chapters, called Ortsverbände. Some 80,000 people are active in this organisation including about 15,000 young volunteers (members of the THW-Jugend). The majority of those are volunteers, while about 800 work full-time in its administration. Each local chapter (Ortsverband) maintains one or more Technische Züge (technical platoons), each consisting of one Zugtrupp (command squad), comprising four volunteers, two Bergungsgruppen (rescue units) comprising nine (first unit) to twelve (second unit) volunteers, and one to three Fachgruppen (Technical Units), comprising four to eighteen volunteers.

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. Their Vehicles are the Gerätekraftwagen 1 (GKW 1) for the 1st Rescue Group and the Mehrzweckkraftwagen (MzKW) or the older Gerätekraftwagen 2 (GKW 2) - which is scheduled to phased out - is for the 2nd Rescue Group.

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),
• Brückenbau (Bridge Building),
• Führung und Kommunikation (Command, Control and Communication), and
• Ortung (Search and Detection).

For relief in foreign countries, there are four Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Bergung Ausland or SEEBA (Rapid Deployment Unit Search and Rescue Abroad) units, able to go airborne within six hours, and five Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Wasserversorgung Ausland or SEEWA (Rapid Deployment Unit Water Supply and Treatment Abroad) units.