The Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) ( da, Beredskabsstyrelsen) is a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
governmental agency under the Ministry of Defence. Its principal task is to manage an operational part who work out of six Emergency Management Centres, and administrative and legalizing part, who supervises the national and municipal rescue preparedness and advises the authorities on matters of preparedness. DEMA works in closely structured co-operation with the EU, UN and several neighbouring countries.
DEMA is capable of deploying abroad on request from another state or an international organisation. The decision to render assistance is taken in co-counsel with the Danish
Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
. DEMA can give support in instances of natural disasters and accidents, technological events and crises and civil wars. It is able to react quickly in acute situations and leave its home base within hours on smaller missions, and have the ability to deploy a mobile hospital in only 24 hours.
History
By the ''Danish Preparedness Act'' (''Beredskabsloven''), which came into force on 1 January 1992, the former WW2 era wartime civil defense corps was changed into a peacetime "Emergency Management Agency", that could primarily work in peacetime.
The Danish Emergency Management Agency was created out of the two agencies responsible for these former services, namely "Civilforsvarsstyrelsen" (Civil Defense Agency) and "Statens Brandinspektion" (Governmental Fire Inspection Agency).
The Civil Defence was created on 1 March 1938, as the State Civil Air Defence (Statens civile luftværn) and was under the responsibility of the
Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministr ...
. The name Civil Defence dates from the first Civil Defence law of 1 April 1949.
The municipal fire services and the Governmental Fire Inspection Agency was under the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
.
The new Danish Emergency Management Agency came under the responsibility of Ministry of the Interior, however as of 1 February 2004 it is under the Ministry of Defence.
By means of a number of political agreements supported widely by the parties in the Danish Parliament, the rescue preparedness has been continuously developed and adapted to the changing demands made by the society and the changes in the security-policy situation.
DEMA and the public
When the Civil Air Defense was created the vehicles were old gray trucks, and this truck-color was kept for many years. The uniform of the Civil Air Defense, and later the Civil Defense was also kept gray, with orange shoulders and blue triangles - The international icon for
civil protection
Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...
. Later the vehicles were painted orange to show that it is a true Civil Defense agency and still are this color - Denmark being one of the only nations left still using the Civil Defense colors and logo to this extent. The uniforms were modernized in the year 2000, and the old gray uniform was replaced by a new dark blue uniform, called M/2000. The uniform has been edited sometimes, and a new rescue-uniform was created in 2009 for USAR teams. The M/2000 is being replaced by a new uniform currently under development.
When on international deployment the DEMA often uses discrete civilian clothing, mostly in a sand/brown color. Experiences have shown that the dark blue uniform may often be mistaken as military or police in other countries, and this has given some unfortunate situations.
The only current deployment where the uniform is used is the UNIFIL deployment in Lebanon, where a special uniform has been developed for the hot climate.
Although DEMA hasn't been called Civil Defense ''(Civilforsvaret)'' for more than 15 years, the general public still often refers to it as the Civil Defense, and a lot don't know what DEMA is.
Emergency Operations
Municipal fire departments
The primary firefighting work in Denmark are done by municipal fire departments and all municipalities are required by law to have a fire department. Before 1992 the municipal fire department were controlled by "''Statens Brandinspektion''" (''Governmental Fire Inspection Agency''), but with the law-change in 1992 the responsibility was given to the Civil Preparedness Division of DEMA.
The municipalities does not have to do the firefighting themselves, and a large part of the fire department services are done by the private firm Falck A/S.
Regional Support Centers
The agency has a staff of some 600 people. About 170 of these are employed in the central Emergency Management Agency in Birkerød. The rest are employed at the agency's six centers and two schools. It is possible to do conscription-service for the Danish military in the operational section of DEMA and the agency has around 450 conscripts every 9 months.
Unlike the military where the normal service length is 4 months and there are no operational tasks, conscription service in DEMA is 9 months in length. Also the conscripts are made part of the national emergency response after 1 month of service and are often participation in firefighting and rescue operations. The conscripts get a full firefighters education and are trained in the following fields:
* Firefighting
* Rescue and USAR
* Advanced first aid, patient assessment and treatment (On EMT-B level)
* Communications
* Heavy vehicle usage (All conscripts must have a normal
drivers license
A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...
before starting, and are offered a lorry-license for free)
*
HAZMAT
Dangerous goods, abbreviated DG, are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabi ...
The Emergency Management Centers are located all over the country and almost every part of the country can be reached within one hour of receiving the alarm. The centers are located in:
* Beredskabsstyrelsen Nordjylland (
Thisted
Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,461 (1 January 2022)breathing apparatus)
* Beredskabsstyrelsen Midtjylland ( Herning)(conscription barracks and specialist in international operations)
* Beredskabsstyrelsen Sydjylland (
Haderslev
Haderslev (; german: Hadersleben ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark with a population of 22,011 (1 January 2022).protective clothing
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elec ...
)
* Beredskabsstyrelsen Sjælland (
Næstved
Næstved () is a town in the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand in Denmark.
Næstved has several adult education centers, five elementary schools - and has at least one of each type of the fou ...
)(conscription barracks and specialist in specialized vehicles)
* Beredskabsstyrelsen Bornholm (
Allinge
Allinge-Sandvig is a small town on the northern coast of the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark. Its population is 1,459 (1 January 2022). It was part of the former municipality Allinge-Gudhjem. Sandvig is the northernmost part of the town.
His ...
Hedehusene
Hedehusene is a suburban town located on the rail line between Copenhagen and Roskilde in the Capital Region of Denmark. It has absorbed the villages of ''Baldersbrønde'' and Fløng and almost merged with Roskilde's eastern Trekroner neighbourho ...
) (300 man large volunteer center)
The primary function of the above centers is to assist municipal fire departments at major fires, assist to police, and to take care of the Danish
nuclear fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
preparedness, HazMat preparedness, USAR/rescue preparedness and all other relevant tasks.
Beredskabsstyrelsen Hedehusene is a 100% volunteer center the only exception being the chief officer and some teachers offering courses to private rescue firms. All the other centers are manned by conscripts who are controlled by a single officer and a couple of sergeants.
Municipal Support Centers (2000-2012)
Besides from the regional support centers there were also (from 2000 to 2012) some minor support points that had equipment paid for by DEMA, but were manned by municipal volunteer firefighters. These support points were, like the regional support points, support centers for the municipal fire departments in case of major fires and other emergencies.
With the new political defense agreement of 2012, the Municipal Support Centers were officially closed. Most of the municipal fire departments were offered to buy the equipment at very low costs.
The Municipal Support Centers were located at:
* Beredskabscenter Aalborg ( Aalborg)
* Århus Brandvæsen (
Århus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
)
* Beredskabet (
Esbjerg
Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)
)
* Fredericia Brandvæsen (
Fredericia
Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vejle. It was founded in 16 ...
)
* Odense Brandvæsen (
Odense
Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...
Nykøbing Falster
Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a southern Danish city, seat of the Guldborgsund ''kommune''. It belongs to Region Sjælland. The city lies on Falster, connected by the Frederick IX Bridge over the Guldborgsund (''Guld ...
)
* Greve Redningsberedskab ( Greve), most equipment given to the volunteer centre in Hedehusene
International Operations
DEMA has participated in several international operations since the beginning of the '90s. Some notable missions are:
* Supply run in Bosnia in 1992 (here the convoy was attacked and a civil defense sergeant was killed)
* USAR after the 1992 Earthquake in Turkey
* Mobile Hospital in Afghanistan
* Mobile Hospital in Aceh after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
* Evacuation of Danish civilians from Lebanon during the 2006 conflict
* 2010 Pakistan earthquake
* In 2010 DEMA won a 10-year-long contract with the UN about manning a fire department at UN HQ in
Naqoura
Naqoura (, ''Enn Nâqoura, Naqoura, An Nāqūrah'') is a small city in southern Lebanon. Since March 23, 1978, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been headquartered in Naqoura.
Name
According to E. H. Palmer (1881), the nam ...
, Lebanon. The mission was closed in 2011, due to political resistance.
* 2011 Japan earthquake disaster and following nuclear incident
Other departments
Nuclear Division
The Nuclear Division's responsibilities include:
*Inspections of the shutdown of the only nuclear facility in Denmark at Risø,
*The Danish nuclear preparedness
*International cooperation on nuclear safety and nuclear preparedness within the Nordic countries, the EU ( EURATOM)
*The
IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 195 ...
and the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
*Nuclear support programmes for countries in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
Chemical Division
The chemical division's responsibilities include:
*Analytical chemical investigations of unknown substances, including
chemical warfare agent
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
s and explosives.
*Examination of dangerous goods and hazardous materials.
*Advisory services, including the National Chemical Response Center (), and education and research.
Civil Preparedness Division
The Danish Preparedness Act stipulates that each ministry, agency, or other authority in the
Danish government
The Cabinet of Denmark ( da, regering) has been the chief executive body and the government of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1848. The Cabinet is led by the Prime Minister. There are around 25 members of the Cabinet, known as "ministers", all of ...
is required to carry out relevant planning within their respective sector to deal with a serious adverse impact on critical functions of society. CPD helps facilitate planning within the different sectors and the coordination between the different sectors. This includes responsibility for national emergency planning, publication of guidance materials, courses, and other activities to strengthen the cooperation between the different actors in the Danish civil preparedness establishment.
Most recently the education for both firefighters and fire chiefs has been completely revised in 2009 and 2010.
Emergency Management Schools
* DEMA Staff College (
Snekkersten
Snekkersten is a former fishing village and current neighbourhood in the southern part of Helsingør, Denmark. Snekkersten station is an interchange between the Coast Line between Copenhagen (to Copenhagen) and the Lille Nord railway to Hillerød ...
)
* DEMA Technical College (
Tinglev
Tinglev (german: Tingleff) is a town with a population of 2,731 (1 January 2022)Bernstorff Palace
Bernstorff Palace ( da, Bernstorff Slot) in Gentofte, Copenhagen, Denmark, was built in the middle of the 18th century for Foreign Minister Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff. It remained in the possession of the Bernstorff family until 1 ...
, DEMA Management Academy, (
Gentofte
Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...
) (closed in 2008)
Insignia
Insignia used by DEMA
;Officers
{, class="wikitable"
, - style="text-align:center;"
! colspan=2, Director & Vice director
! colspan=7, Officers
, - style="text-align:center;"
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
, - style="text-align:center;"
, {{lang, da, Direktør
, {{lang, da, Vicedirektør
, {{lang, da, Brigadechef
, {{lang, da, Kolonnechef
, {{lang, da, Sektionschef
, {{lang, da, Sektionsleder
, {{lang, da, Korpsmester
, {{lang, da, Mester
, {{lang, da, Mester af reserven (reserves)
;Enlisted
{, class="wikitable"
, - style="text-align:center;"
! colspan=5, NCOs
, - style="text-align:center;"
,
,
,
,
,
, - style="text-align:center;"
, {{lang, da, Chefsergent
, {{lang, da, Seniorsergent
, {{lang, da, Oversergent
, {{lang, da, Sergent
, {{lang, da, Sergent (national serviceman)