Practical experience of actual escape routes

Attended by more than 40 fire officers and fire managers from the whole of Germany, the “Ladenburg district” fire prevention seminar was hosted by TOTAL Feuerschutz GmbH. An innovative idea that has now been running for over 20 years, the subject of this year’s seminar was “escape routes”. The highlight was a session outlining the theoretical options open to fire fighters and the practical demonstration of these techniques, some of which were played out at high altitude, with the assistance of Heidelberg’s fire department. The demonstrations made use of a range of equipment, including turntable ladders, extension ladders, scaling ladders, as well as a jump pad.

Hermann Maurer, head of one of the fire services represented at the seminar commented, “it’s worth experiencing the theoretical aspect of escape routes on a practical level, and at close quarters, using the various different fire brigade ladders. No amount of theoretical training will ever replace the vibration, altitude and the effects of the weather as you come down a ladder from a height of twenty metres.” 

Bernhard Mäder, head of TOTAL's Training Department adds, “At the Ladenburg district seminars it is always very important that we address topical issues that are pertinent to a fire prevention officer and lie within his immediate sphere of concern. Previous training seminars have generally had a practical focus and been led by selected and enthusiastic officers. In recent years we have concentrated on static fire control in the Cologne fire house, legal issues, as well as live fire fighting exercises at the company's own training ground in Ladenburg.   This gave the participants the opportunity not just to experience a realistic training course, but also to gain important impressions for their practical work as fire officers."

TOTAL offers the "Ladenburg district” seminars twice a year. The focus of the seminars changes every year. This year the focus is on escape routes and fire prevention demonstrations. Another practical angle offered by the seminars takes the form of discussions on practical subjects between participants and speakers, who discuss subjects from many different fields and review ideas particularly relevant for their own work.  This results in a tremendous amount of practical benefit being drawn from this advanced training programme offered by TOTAL. For more information please go to the training page at http://www.total-feuerschutz.de/en/seminare/16.html.