International emergency officials meet at Spangdahlem

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Clay Murray
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  Fire and emergency responders from three European nations and the U.S. met here June 10 to learn more about cooperating with other countries' agencies during crises.

Participants from Germany, Bulgaria and Romania joined the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron fire department for a base tour, fire department visit and a pilot rescue demonstration.

This visit was part of a larger European annual seminar revolving around disaster and emergency management. Spangdahlem was chosen as one of the locations because of its reputation for efficient international emergency response, said Bernhard Schaefer, 52nd Fighter Wing community relations advisor.

"The visit is because (the participating nations) are from a partnership with the state of Rheinland-Palatinate, Romania, Bulgaria and other countries, and we invite them one time a year to visit," said Heinz Wolschendorf, Trier District Fire Department director. "We try to show them our good experiences with the U.S. Air Force fire department or other fire units in Luxembourg and show them our professional firefighters in Trier to bring new ideas to Romania and Bulgaria. We also visit these countries to see how they do their job."

Officials from the nations received instruction and information about firefighting means and tools. They walked through the firehouse and fire trucks and learned about equipment as a way to learn about methods common to U.S. firefighters.

"It's a very good partnership between (local and USAF fire departments)," Mr. Wolschendorf said. "For example, we do some exercises together and real accidents where the support, mutual aid and assistance is very good."

Dolores Schneider-Pauly, vice president of a German state district, also visited Spangdahlem AB to learn more about working together internationally during emergencies. The intention, she said, was to bring European emergency response officials together to show how the direct cooperation and communication functions on an international basis, namely here with the Americans.

She also added it is important to note that countries who are newer members of the European Union have an opportunity to see how this friendly cooperation and mutual exchange can work very easily, and the partnership is a win-win situation for everyone.