German Fire Services
The responsible bodies for operating and equipping fire departments are the German communities ("Gemeinden") and cities ("Städte").
Others such as smaller cities and towns can set up a full-time force ("Hauptamtliche Wachbereitschaft"), which is basically a group or a squadron occupying one large fire station around the clock.
Most standard procedures in German firefighting are based on the Gruppe (group), since it is the smallest tactical unit to work independently.
The also common Staffel (squadron) is basically a group stripped down to the absolutely necessary minimum, which can easily be extended to a Gruppe by joining with a three-firefighter Trupp (squad) from another vehicle.
Due to the financial situation of most German cities, the squadron is the most common unit for professional fire-fighting forces, because it provides sufficient manpower but saves three firefighters in comparison to a group.
The standard procedures for fire and technical aid and rescue assign certain tasks to certain crew members.
This helps keeping the orders the unit commander has to give short and simple, since those tasks don't need to be specifically assigned to anyone.
The volunteer firefighters ranks are as follows (with deviations depending on the federal state): In Germany there are three career groups for fire fighters.
Other manufacturers include Ziegler, Saval-Kronenburg, Amdac Carmichael International, Metz, E-One,[4] Oshkosh,[5] Sides, and Magirus-Deutz/IVECO Magirus.
The German emergency currently use the so-called "BOS-Band" (BOS means Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben, "authorities and organisations with security duties"), channels located in the 4-metre and 2-metre bands with a frequency range from 74.215 to 87.255 MHz (4m/base stations) and from 167.56 to 173.98 MHz (2m/portable radios).
The city of Aachen began testing a TETRA-based system in 2001 and has implemented it since 2003 after completion of the pilot project.
In bigger areas, there is usually a number of relay stations/repeaters in place which repeat the signal, giving it more range and quality.
Although not in accordance with the respective service regulation ("Dienstvorschrift"), these identifications are sometimes shortened for the sake of fast radio contact and when there can be no doubt that the vehicle is unique.
For example, the ELW [de] currently on scene may simply refer to himself as "1-11" or "Florian 1-11", instead of using the whole sequence when the crew is certain that there are no other companies involved.
