The newspapers present almost daily reports on great accidents some place on earth. However, on a national basis, catastrophes occur at rare intervals. There is hardly anywhere a professional rescue personnel which is ready for major accidents with mass casualties because of underutilization and for financial reasons.

That means that at major accidents with mass casualties, the need for rescue personnel and equipment usually exceeds the daily professional readiness for rescue services, and the required manpower and equipment in sufficient numbers are seldom available to handle such big accidents. Voluntary lief organizations will then lend a hand, but they mostly consist of helpers who are neither educated nor trained for such difficult rescue work.