{"id":5708,"date":"2022-12-12T07:40:36","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T06:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heroes-world.de\/die-guten-kommen-von-oben\/"},"modified":"2022-12-14T15:42:27","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T14:42:27","slug":"salvation-from-above","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heroes-world.de\/en\/blog\/2022\/12\/12\/salvation-from-above\/","title":{"rendered":"Salvation from above"},"content":{"rendered":"

An indoor mountain rescue hall \u2013 only in Bad T\u00f6lz. Many first responders train at the Bavarian Mountain Rescue Center for Safety and Training Among them, the professional fire brigade of Regensburg. They\u2019re here for the helicopter simulator.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

I am suspended in the air, ten meters off the ground. Below me, barren concrete. Above me, the cockpit of a helicopter. I whimper as I cling on to my rescuer’s back. Seconds later, his boots connect with the helicopter\u2019s skids. I am hanging off of a firefighter and have no idea how to get into the cabin. \u201cI\u2019ll get you in,\u201d he reassures me as he hooks my carabiner into the roof bolts inside the helicopter. I slide across the silver metal floor. Safety. My first air rescue! And all I had to do was trust the firefighter.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

\"Die<\/div><\/div>

In the sacred halls<\/h2>\n

The Bavarian Mountain Rescue Center for Safety and Training in Bad T\u00f6lz is open to rescue professionals on roughly 300 days a year. While most of the people who train here come from Bavaria, there are also groups from other states, and even neighboring countries. The hall, initially used as a training facility for the Bavarian Mountain Rescue Service, was built in 2008. Since 2015, it has been open for specific emergency response organizations that regularly work with helicopters. It’s no surprise that so many teams are keen to train here: There\u2019s no other facility like it in Europe. Cable car rescue, water rescue, climbing walls, tunnel systems and a room simulating harsh weather conditions in the mountains, with fog, wind and temperatures of 20 degrees sub zero \u2013 many of these training opportunities are unique. Why no similar centers exist is a mystery considering the sheer number of missions facing the Bavarian Mountain Rescue.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2021 alone, its teams responded to more than a thousand distress calls in their rescue helicopters. Tobias Vogl, head of the service and a mountain rescue professional himself, gives me a tour of the training center. It is 60 meters long, 25 meters wide and 17 meters tall. Daylight floods into the room through three large floor-to-ceiling window facades. Suspended from the ceiling, there are two helicopter cabins attached to crane runways, three gondolas and two ski lifts. A house, complete with a balcony and skylights, stands in the middle of the hall. \u201cWe used this in response to the floods during the past few years,\u201d Vogl explains. Helping people who are stuck on their roof: This is the scenario that the height rescue group from Regensburg fire department is practicing today.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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