Emergency Management

Emergency Management by Fraport AG
The emergency management department  of Fraport AG is tailored to the requirements of a modern company operating in the context of a complex intermodal transportation system, the associated risks (emergencies and major disruptions), and externally imposed requirements. It is geared first and foremost to prevention: to protecting people, operations and property, and to eliminating or minimizing dangers. When damage, disruptions or injuries occur, the emergency management system provides support in the form of appropriate measures to minimize the overall repercussions on air traffic, passengers and the airport transportation system and restore normal operations as quickly as possible.

Tasks and Goals
Emergencies, major damage and severe disruptions that affect flight and terminal operations are not foreseeable. Because there is no such thing as a standard situation and no cure-all for dealing with any eventuality, every occurrence is dealt with individually as appropriate. Professional crisis management by Fraport AG has the job of getting  incidents under control in order to at least contain property damage and injury to persons. Concerted action is enabled by an established crisis management team to which all of the safety and security players at Frankfurt Airport belong, including Fraport AG, authorities, airlines, and other external parties as expedient.

The goal of emergency management is to systematically and effectively counter dangers and threats to people, the environment and property in order to prevent emergencies from escalating into crises.

The Elements of Emergency Management:

Planning for Emergencies
Prevention of Emergencies
Emergency Response and Information Center (ERIC)
Telephone Inquiry Center (NIZ)
Special Assistance Team
Safety and Security Operations Center
Emergency Exercises
Airport Fire Department
Airport Security
Medical Services

Planning for Emergencies
While taking into account legal and organizational requirements, contingency plans have been drawn up and general instructions for action and conduct in the event of damage or injury at or connected to Frankfurt Airport defined. Organizational and technical resources have also been allocated for helping to contain follow-up damage after emergencies or disruptions.

Frankfurt Airport has effective contingency plans for emergencies, which are spelled out in a standard operating procedure. This stipulates what is to be done in response to emergencies at Frankfurt Airport. It defines the basic approaches, reporting and alarm paths, and responsibilities. It also defines how to proceed when coordinated action by multiple departments is required.

As the airport's operator, Fraport AG has the obligation to keep it operating reliably, which includes defining the corresponding procedures and making sure they are applied.

For this purpose, Fraport AG has its own firefighting, rescue and security services (the emergency services of Fraport AG).

Prevention of Emergencies
To effectively prevent emergencies, Fraport AG has installed the required infrastructure, including the necessary procedures and organizational structures.

Emergency Response and Information Center (ERIC)
One of the most important facilities for handling emergencies at Frankfurt Airport is the "Emergency Response and Information Center" (ERIC) - the crisis center for managing major damage situations and severe disruptions to operations. The ERIC provides the framework for the crisis management team- managers and decision-makers of Fraport AG - to work with equal leveled representatives of authorities and external partners to deal with situations. When the size and impacts of an occurrence are such that all internal and external units must work together to combat and prevent damage and dangers, the crisis management team coordinates and initiates all required measures at the airport. If required, it can also activate the "Telephone Inquiry Center" and "Special Assistance Team " that Fraport AG has set up. These provide Fraport AG with the required central units for managing emergencies at Frankfurt Airport.

Telephone Inquiry Center (NIZ)
The Telephone Inquiry Center  of Fraport AG is the first place that the families of possible victims can phone to get information or report missing persons. It is equipped with computer-assisted call desks, cutting-edge visualization technology, and special software that was developed specifically for this application.

More than 100 bi- and multilingual employees, interpreters, coordinators and management assistants from all parts of Fraport AG are voluntarily available to support the NIZ when required. They attend special courses that intensively prepare them to deal with the psychological aspects of an emergency situation. Their training is supplemented by refresher and extension courses every year.

Special Assistance Team
In the event of major incidents or emergencies at or connected with Frankfurt Airport in which meeting friends and relatives are directly or indirectly affected and subjected to unusually great stress, the Special Assistance Team of Fraport AG  goes into action. With great commitment and enthusiasm, more than 100 Fraport AG volunteers provide initial psychosocial care and support to uninjured victims and their families on-site, helping them to cope with the problems, needs, worries and concerns associated with the special situation. Depending on the incident / accident they are supported by church social services, priests or pastors, and special assistance teams of airlines. Special courses prepare and train the team's members for their jobs. Additional courses and practical exercises spread over the year keep their qualifications at a high level.

Safety and Security Operations Center
The Safety and Security Operations Center receives all reports and alarms in connection with all safety- or security-relevant issues. It coordinates and documents the actions taken by the airport fire department, the rescue service, airport security and the emergency management. It makes sure that all involved internal units as well as the management receive the information they need. It is also responsible for classifying emergency situationsto identify the correct response as stipulated by the standard operating procedure for emergencies. At the same time, it alerts the emergency management and the units that need to respond, guides them to the emergency site, and provides ongoing support for all activities.

Emergency Exercises
To foster readiness for emergencies, various emergency exercises are regularly held at Frankfurt Airport. They include:

• Table top exercises
• Firefighting and rescue
• Practice in notifying family members, affected airlines, the media and the public
• Exercises in providing initial psychosocial care to uninjured survivors, their families and helpers

In addition to smaller exercises such as practice in evacuating people from the Skyline-train, a full-scale exercise is carried out at Frankfurt Airport every two years to practice dealing with complex emergency situations; this complies with legal requirements and the international guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It mainly serves to check how effectively internal and external services work together. The basis for planning and coordinating these drills is Fraport's standard operating procedure for emergencies. The practice scenarios are planned and implemented to be as realistic as possible in order to check all aspects of the alarm plan: the proper functioning and effectiveness of organizational, staff-related and material preparations, but also the qualifications of everyone involved.

Airport Fire Department
The airport fire department of Fraport AG is an integral part of airport safety & security department. It is recognized as an company owned fire brigade and has over 50 years of experience. It is responsible for fighting fires in buildings and aircraft and for fire prevention (fire protection concepts and management systems) and for associated services (the Fire Training Center, maintenance of fire extinguishers, aircraft recovery operations). The aircraft firefighting team's experienced experts ensure a high level of fire safety by responding extremely quickly with top-quality equipment from three fire stations. In compliance with the international requirements of the  ICAO, it is able to begin effective extinguishing and rescue operations within three minutes at any point of the runway system. At the Fire Training Center (FTC), an internationally acknowledged competence center for fire safety at airports, firefighters are trained in the use of state-of-the-art mobile equipment. At present the FTC is used as an Europe-wide training center, and also provides consulting on fire protection and fire prevention to customers worldwide.

Airport Security
The tasks of Airport Security is to ensure security and order as a prerequisite for undisturbed operations. The priority in executing the tasks is in accordance to security demands. In emergency situations the authorities (with security functions) the airlines, private security companies and Airport Security work together within the framework of an established partnership. Within the scope of the existing emergency plans, Airport Security is also responsible for other important tasks, as there are for instance making documentations, cordoning-off the incident- accident-site as well as  as controlling and restricting access to certain areas.

 

Contact:

Jürgen Mursch Head of Airport Security ASM-OS Fraport AG 60547 Frankfurt am Main Germany Tel.: +49 69 690-66500 E-mail

Peter Karl Head of Emergency Management ASM-OS1 Fraport AG 60547 Frankfurt am Main Germany Tel.: +49 69 690-77219 E-mail

 

Medical Services

The Rescue Service and Emergency Clinic (Airport Clinic) are responsible for initially attending to all injured and ill persons at Frankfurt Airport. So that they have the required authorization to respond without delay when needed, all of the emergency physicians are officially designated "senior emergency physicians" with supplementary training in "emergency medicine", and most of the rescue assistants have also qualified as "rescue service organizational commanders":

Large airports have to be prepared at all times to confront newly appearing infectious diseases such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), avian flu or hemorrhaging fevers (e.g., Lassa and Ebola). Appropriate procedures have been prepared for professionally countering risks of this kind. All physicians of the Medical Services are also medical officers of the Department of Health of the city of Frankfurt and as such authorized to initiate and carry out all required measures to fight infectious diseases.

But competent emergency medical care does not end with caring for injured and infected persons on site. The Medical Services also take care of details such as arranging for further transport, contacting airlines and authorities, and notifying family members.

Both within Germany and internationally, the Medical Services are a leader in the field of medical disaster management and training at large airports.

For drawing up contingency plans to deal with catastrophe situations, the medical team of Fraport AG works closely with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Medical Association of the state of Hesse and with the Competence Center of the Department of Health of the city of Frankfurt.

Rescue Services
The Rescue Service of Fraport AG conducts all emergency operations on the airport premises and when required also on the nearby motorways and in neighboring residential areas. It also takes care of transporting ill and handicapped persons within the airport.

It has nine special vehicles at its disposal, including RTW rescue vehicles that can also be used as ambulances, a rescue service equipment vehicle (GW-RETT) that carries supplies and equipment for full on-site care of up to 100 injured and/or infected persons, and a special lift for salvage and rescue operations in aircraft.

Contact:

Ewald Grieser Head of Rescue Services PSL-GR Fraport AG 60547 Frankfurt am Main Tel.: +49 69 690-71736 E-mail