# Civil Defence



## mariomike (21 Apr 2010)

Regarding Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk (Federal Agency for Technical Relief, THW):
"is a disaster relief organisation controlled by the German federal government. 99% of its members are volunteers."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technisches_Hilfswerk
Although it's history is from WW2 and the Cold War, today "the THW is a capable helper in a wide spectrum of disasters, such as traffic accidents, industrial disasters, or earthquakes."

It goes on to say:
"In Germany, military service is mandatory for adult males. Instead of joining the military for nine months full-time, one of the alternatives is to join a non-combatant volunteer organisation of the German Katastrophenschutz (disaster relief) or Zivilschutz (civil defense) for a minimum of six years (this is calculated so that although serving far less time every week, in the end the number of served hours is about the same). The THW is one of those organisations, as well as volunteer fire brigades and various organisations engaged in emergency medical service."
http://www.thw.bund.de/cln_036/nn_244766/EN/content/home/home__en__node.html__nnn=true

Germany's THW seems to be an effective blend of Emergency Services professionals and civilians.


----------

