Study on Emergency Operations: Success Depends on Reliable Networks among Agencies

Press release issued jointly by Freie Universität Berlin and TU Kaiserslautern. ' 067/2017 from Apr 03, 2017 Numerous slip-ups in connection with the investigation against the terrorist attacker Anis Amri are just one indication that cooperation between authorities is not always smooth. In spite of many findings by federal and state authorities in Germany, Amri was able to move around freely in the country. To find out how the police, fire department, and other emergency personnel can better work together, researchers from Berlin, Kaiserslautern, and Tilburg in the Netherlands investigated the deployments and work processes of the fire department in Düsseldorf. They found that in order to ensure a reliable process, good networking and regular exchange between all the parties is important. The findings were published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory . When the police, fire department, German Red Cross, or technical aid organizations cooperate after bomb attacks, extreme storms, or other catastrophes, the participants have to make important decisions in a very short time.