BRK President Theo Zellner speaks about the volunteer work of the helpers after the deployment in the flood areas.
He's proud - and has an appeal.
Since mid-July, BRK emergency services have been deployed in the disaster areas in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia - many of them on a voluntary basis.
This great commitment is the strength of the Bavarian rescue service, says BRK President Theo Zellner.
1,800 helpers from Bavaria were on duty in the flood areas; they helped for 130,000 hours. How much routine does the BRK have with operations of this magnitude?
We have a lot of experience, including with floods.
But not on this scale.
Our people were also working in Bavaria at the same time, in Berchtesgadener Land, for example.
For several years we have observed that such weather events come very quickly and selectively.
We have already seen that in Bavaria in Simbach and Deggendorf.
How large was the proportion of volunteers in this assignment?
Almost all volunteers were involved.
You are our great strength.
Without them, such missions would be unthinkable.
It is only thanks to them that we can react so quickly in major incidents.
That is why it is so important that the so-called growth system for volunteers is taken into account in the amendment to the Rescue Service Act, which is currently being drawn up.
How would disasters like this happen without volunteers?
It is unimaginable.
One possibility would be to organize the aid by the state.
The Czech Republic does it that way.
But we have the principle of subsidiarity.
The help comes directly from the population.
Everyone feels affected - this is the only way to cope with such major disasters.
The helpers were in the disaster areas for four weeks. How hard is it to find so many volunteers in the middle of vacation time?
I am the district chairman myself.
People broke out of my association three times.
My respect for it is enormous.
There are never any restrictions for our people, a vacation is never more important when the BRK is called.
We can always count on our volunteers.
That is why the Red Cross defines itself through volunteering.
It is important that we create the framework conditions for those responsible so that this enormous motivation to help does not suffer.
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President Theo Zellner is proud of his BRK.
© dpa
What drives the helpers?
It is really a passion to help.
I noticed that early on in my time at the water watch.
Behind the great commitment is the desire to help people in need.
You can't appreciate that enough.
But the fact that we are always there when we are called is sometimes the enemy of appreciation.
When two trains collided recently in the Czech Republic, it took less than an hour for the Bavarian helpers to be on site. Is the cross-border cooperation so good everywhere in the border area?
That was not always so.
A few years ago, victims of an accident had to be reloaded at the border.
You can no longer imagine that today.
With the help of a European funding program, we have completely reorganized our cooperation in the Bavarian-Czech border region.
A transnational rescue center has been set up in Furth im Wald, where Bavarian and Czech forces are based.
There are common alarms.
Of course we used to help each other too, but now this help is institutionalized.
How well this works can be seen in the train accident.
How has the pandemic changed your work?
Many exercises and courses could not take place.
But thank God the commitment of our volunteers has not changed.
On the contrary.
The pandemic is another example of the BRK's growth potential.
Thanks to our volunteers, we were able to intervene quickly - when testing, when vaccinating.
Is this voluntary commitment sufficiently seen and appreciated by politicians?
I think so.
We have always been in close and good contact with our interior minister and the political groups.
The system of subsidiarity is firmly anchored in Bavaria and is valued.
Of course, we would like more support, for example with financing.
For example, when increasing the number of vehicles and equipment from our experience with disasters.
We get a lot of support, but we have to renegotiate every year.
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