By Thursday, immediately after the first heavy rainfall, the HTM team was preparing for the mission in the flooded region after consultations with the MHW (Medizinische Katastrophen-Hilfswerk, or Medical Disaster Relief Association) on behalf of Rhineland-Palatinate's emergency management agency. In a very short time, an HTM crisis team was set up, which ensured that two EC135 helicopters and their crews would be on call that very evening.
Rapid aid
The first step was to prepare helicopters outfitted with rescue winches for possible deployment to rescue the injured and victims trapped on roofs in the flooded areas. At the same time, another helicopter along with its crew was put in service for Deutsche Bahn, to inspect the damage to trains and rail lines in the disaster area. This meant that the crew flew from Munich to the affected regions south of Cologne, Essen, and Dortmund, thus enabling the investigation team to inspect and map local and long-distance train routes in the area – and the corresponding damage. In the process, the HTM crew was shocked by the images of destruction. "It was staggering… everything was gone! We had never seen anything like it," said Matthias Schwaighofer, an EC135 mission pilot at HTM.
Aid from South and North
Due to the extent of the floods, HTM made another EC135 helicopter available to Deutsche Bahn shortly thereafter, which set off from HTM's Emden site with a crew to again inspect the flood zone from the air. In addition, HTM also provided ADAC with a helicopter as part of the joint FIT/TEMPiS project to provide emergency stroke-intervention care in Munich and the surrounding region. This became necessary because the ADAC helicopter originally intended for this purpose had to take over primary rescue services for "Christoph 1," another helicopter which itself had been sent to the disaster area.
Situation assessment from the air
In cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), yet another aircraft was equipped with a "4K camera" system for situation assessment in the hard-hit area. This made it possible to determine georeferenced and orthorectified aerial images from the captured images while still in the helicopter, which could then be used on the ground by rescue and emergency services for disaster relief efforts. This way, they could assess how extensive the damage was, and which locations and places it was even possible to get to.
Although HTM's contribution was small compared to the efforts many other first responders and volunteers on site had made, it was more than worth it. And not just that: Despite the indescribable suffering caused by the floods, there was an unmistakable atmosphere of sympathy and willingness to help everywhere, which gave everyone just a little bit of solace and even hope. In addition to the frightening images, the HTM team also still remembers these positive impressions after this crucial mission.