The information sheets developed jointly by all three partners “Safety through preparedness – natural hazards in focus” are a result of the cooperation agreement between the BBK, DFV and vfdb, in which the parties agreed in 2022 to jointly raise public awareness of preparedness and correct behaviour in crises and disasters.

Sound methods, tested content, easy to find, quick to use – these are the maxims behind the new information sheets jointly developed by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), the German Fire Service Association (DFV) and the Association for the Promotion of German Fire Protection (vfdb). Each sheet presents existing materials, concepts and digital offers for one emergency situation in such a way that multipliers can quickly gain an overview of what is available, download materials via QR code and then use them flexibly for their own teaching units.

The first five issues are dedicated to natural hazards such as storms and thunderstorms, floods and earthquakes, as well as overarching topics such as power outages and civil protection. The preparation of further self-protection topics in the new format is planned for use in teaching and training various target groups – from childhood onwards.

BBK President Ralph Tiesler emphasises in this context:

“We take the goal of training self-protection skills at an early age, especially for young people, very seriously in civil protection. The transfer of knowledge and skills must take place wherever young people can absorb new things and internalise what they have learned. I am therefore delighted that, through our cooperation with the DFV and vfdb, we can make the knowledge of our specialised BBK experts available to teachers in order to effectively integrate these challenging topics into lessons.”

vfdb President Dirk Aschenbrenner adds:

“I am delighted that we can pool and pass on experience and knowledge here. Our large joint network gives us the opportunity to provide authoritative teaching materials from a single source. In this way, we offer trainers good, well-founded guidance.”

DFV President Karl-Heinz Banse picks up on this:

“Fire brigades are everywhere on the ground and are a trustworthy point of contact for people. The high-quality, jointly developed information sheets make it easier for firefighters to impart knowledge about self-protection – regardless of the target group!”

The five information sheets published so far have been published on the BBK website under the link www.bbk.bund.de/sicherheit-durch-vorsorge and can be downloaded there for your own free use. The co-operation partners are already working on the implementation of further projects for the future, which are dedicated to the development of new, practical offers for working with children under the age of 7 and young people aged 14 and over.

By making joint use of existing networks and the available expertise of the partners involved, resources can be networked, coordinated and jointly utilised in the interests of achieving the objectives.