A nastily wailing siren, people streaming out of the building, and the blue lights of the arriving fire engine – this was the scenery for the ELCON employees in the morning of the 19 February 2015. The serious part, however, had to be played by the team of ten volunteers of the Hartmannsdorf youth fire brigade, aged between nine and sixteen. After all, an experienced and swift response to a fire alarm needs training. Have all people managed to escape? Is anybody missing? Where exactly is the fire alarm centre in the building? Which of the smoke detectors triggered the alarm? In an emergency case, these questions are crucial: they may decide between life and death. And when it´s getting serious, each and every move must be perfect.
But this is not the only reason why the Hartmannsdorf youth fire brigade regularly trains close to reality. Together with regionally based companies, such as ELCON Systemtechnik, the teammates pursue another aim. “After the training, the young people get the chance to learn more about the company and the job opportunities directly on site. We show them the options for a professional career, hoping that one day they will decide to stay in our home region”, says Detlef Larisch, team leader of the youth fire brigade.
The project is a win-win business for all who are involved: The young boys can train under realistic conditions and may look behind the scenes of interesting companies in their neighbourhood. The employees there, on the other side, refresh their know-how on fire protection and present their company to potential future colleagues. At ELCON, this task has been taken over by Saskia Pfeil and Dominik Helmert, who are being trained in industrial business management, respectively as electrotechnician for devices and systems. They gave a short summary about the requirements and prospects of their professions and were open to the many questions the young fire fighters were asking them.
Denise Neukirchner, Human Resources Assistant at ELCON, appreciates the advantages of this situation: “Our company is expanding and we are constantly looking for specialists. This is one more reason why we see the project of the Hartmannsdorf youth fire brigade as a promising investment in the future of ELCON Systemtechnik and the entire region.”
This time the youth fire brigade carried out it’s job in a fully satisfactory way: the cause for the fire alarm was found very quickly and the missed person could be rescued. “Next year our team may have changed – as everyone with sufficient physical fitness may volunteer to become engaged in the youth fire brigade”, says Mr. Larisch.