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28 Real Estate Management Division
Comprehensive rescue system
for passenger safety
29
As engineer Jörg Staben walks through Hamburg Airport, the various buildings, rooms and paths
merge into a large network in his mind. “With the completion of the HAM 21 Expansion Programme,
we have been able to create a comprehensive rescue system. The safety of our passengers and
visitors is of the highest importance, which is why we are the first airport in Germany to have developed
its own network of SOS columns, centrally linked to the Airport Fire Brigade.”
Real Estate Management Division
Employees: 88
Director: Carsten Wilmsen
SOS columns equipped with emergency
defibrillators
Responsibility: Real Estate Management is responsible for the cohesive development
of the Hamburg Airport site and for marketing infrastructure to internal and external
customers. Alongside classical real estate management – the rental of office space and
property maintenance – the Real Estate Management Division is also responsible for
project management and actual construction.
Jörg Staben, an experienced member of the Real Estate Management
team, and the emergency experts at the Airport Fire Brigade selected
66 locations, in the car parks, the terminals, the Airport Plaza
and the Passenger Pier, where they have installed two-metre-high,
fire-engine-red SOS columns. The system is a combination emergency
and rescue facility. The goal: In an emergency, victims and/or those
helping them can both call for professional help and administer first
aid on the spot. In practice, it works like this: In order to activate the
SOS column, one of the two buttons, situated at different heights,
has to be pressed. The emergency call is received by the Airport Fire
Brigade Coordination; a member of staff enquires via intercom about
the nature of the emergency and, if necessary, releases the drawer
located in the column which contains the first aid kit and a simple
defibrillator. The defibrillator can be operated safely without prior medical
knowledge; the operator is guided through the individual steps
with automated spoken instructions. At the same time, two qualified
paramedics/emergency paramedics from the Airport Fire Brigade
proceed with emergency siren to the scene to provide professional
support for the person in need. According to Jörg Staben, who is
also the airport’s Fire Protection Compliance Officer, “Since 2006 we
have had more than 15 defibrillators, but they were not connected
with our fire brigade’s emergency station. The new SOS columns
allow us to provide quick, targeted assistance throughout the site.”
The stand-alone defibrillators, which have already rescued lives at
the airport in the past, will continue to serve Hamburg Airport.
An investment in passenger safety
After the activation of the emergency and rescue system and successful
treatment, Airport Fire Brigade staff inspect the first aid kit
and the defibrillator and then clear the SOS column for use again.
Only then is the alarm situation over and the SOS column is ready
for the next emergency. “For an airport of this size, such comprehensive
cover of the site is unique – in financial terms, too,” says Jörg
Staben. “Each SOS column, including the equipment, installation,
cabling and networking with Coordination, costs 10,000 euros.”
On top of this, there is the cost of regular technical inspections.”
For Director Carsten Wilmsen, this project, unique in Germany, has
high priority. “We know that in an emergency, every second counts.
That is why we are convinced that the high level of investment is
worthwhile in the best sense.”