Exercise of the Medical Task Force of Germany, 24 - 26. October 2014, Lehnin/Brandenburg

Between 24 and 26 October 2014, an exercise of the Medical Task Force of Germany (MTF) has taken place on the military training ground Lehnin, Landkreis Brandenburg-Mittelmark (Germany). During this exercise called Flinker Oktopus the immediate treatment of injuries as a consequence of an explosion of a fertilizer plant was trained. This exercise was utilized by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), in order to get new insights in traffic management during emergency cases and in order to test the use of terrestrial and airborne monitoring systems contributing to situational awareness. During this exercise, current traffic and situational information, aerial imagery as well as Ultra HD Videos were acquired by the new DLR's 4k camera system on board the Eurocopter BO 105. Furthermore, the information was visualized in near-real time mode at a mobile situation room. Further experiments included the use of a remote controlled micro aerial vehicle (MAV) and particularly terrestrial monitoring sensors, such as GPS instruments and traffic cameras. Main tasks of the ZKI included the creation of reference and situation maps in preparation of the exercise and current cartographic information derived from the aerial helicopter-based monitoring. All information - which was visualized via printed maps and an interactive web-application - was directly delivered and exchanged to the exercise organizers on-site.