Help and Emergency

Crisis management

For several years now, Bielefeld University has been working on the creation and implementation of a comprehensive security concept as a preventative measure - but also on the basis of specific events - focussing on prevention before an event (threat management), intervention during the event (crisis management) and aftercare following the event (psychosocial emergency care).

The aim of crisis management, as part of the security concept, is to take precautions to protect the lives and health of people on the university campus and to avoid dangers to the environment.

Crises in the understanding of crisis management are aggravated and time-critical emergencies. In the area of crisis management, possible crisis scenarios were identified in advance and their probability of occurrence and impact were compared (risk assessment according to Nohl). Processes for dealing with the various scenarios were developed on the basis of this assessment.

In the area of crisis management, all scenarios are conceivable in the abstract, e.g. intentional or unintentional accidents involving hazardous substances or biological materials, major fires, severe weather events, acts of violence, bomb threats, as well as amok or terrorist situations.

The procedure in the event of a crisis (intervention) is set out in Bielefeld University's crisis management manual. This is aimed at those involved in dealing with a crisis. The crisis management manual is structured in a process-oriented manner and is divided into five chapters: General, Organisational Structure, Process Organisation, Control Processes and Applicable Documents:
 

• The organisational structure describes the key players in the area of crisis management with their respective rights and tasks.
• The process organisation is divided into the areas of infrastructure, scenarios with the associated reporting channels and aftercare. The process steps and responsibilities are also illustrated here using flow charts.
• The control and management processes describe the processes required to systematically implement and improve the system. Working documents such as forms, checklists, documents and further information can be found in the applicable documents.

The crisis management manual is the operational basis for successful crisis management and is intended to ensure that the players (e.g. crisis team, intervention team, security service) can generate appropriate crisis behaviour in a crisis situation in the initial response and in further case handling.

Another key aspect of crisis management is the area of communication. The use of a smartphone-based platform for effective alerting, information distribution and communication in crisis situations(crisis and emergency app) is part of the crisis management system.

The aim is to send appropriate alert information to mobile devices (smartphone, tablet or PC) when a potential crisis occurs, either to employees with special functions (e.g. crisis team, intervention team, security service) or without special functions such as students and guests who are equipped with corresponding apps. The crisis and emergency app should be seen as an additional alerting option to the conventional alerting devices.

Over the next few years, work will continue on the ongoing development of the comprehensive security concept.

If you have any suggestions, questions or need advice, please contact email: krisenmanagement@uni-bielefeld.de