„Someone's lying there!“ Matthias Steiner, Olympic weightlifting champion and current fitness and nutrition entrepreneur, lies motionless on the floor of a destroyed house. Helpers in rescue suits try to crawl through a narrow gap between the rubble to the 37-year-old. With success! The father of two is first given medical treatment and then rescued strapped to a stretcher. What happened?
Deployment in disaster areas
„Fortunately, it was all just an exercise by the aid organisation I.S.A.R. Germany, which I was allowed to take part in as a project sponsor of ‚RTL - Wir helfen Kindern‘,“ says Matthias Steiner with relief. „Nevertheless, it was very, very uncomfortable and oppressive to lie there. I was able to put myself in the shoes of someone who was really buried. There are so many thoughts running through your head: Is someone looking for me? What will happen if I'm not found in time? I've had type 1 diabetes since I was 18 and need insulin regularly. „RTL - Wir helfen Kindern“ mentor Matthias Steiner: „You're really scared and have to try not to panic!“ You're really scared and you have to try not to panic. As a father, the thought of what terrible consequences such an experience would have for a child immediately entered my mind. That's why it's so important that perfectly trained experts can get to the victims quickly in such situations and provide competent help!“
Providing rapid aid for children and families in disaster areas around the world has been the sole aim of I.S.A.R Germany's employees for 17 years. To ensure that the survival and safety of children, mothers and pregnant women in particular can be quickly guaranteed in acute disaster situations, „RTL - Wir helfen Kindern“ would like to expand the use of I.S.A.R.„s “Mother and Child„ module. To inform the public about the work of I.S.A.R. and the need for the module, Matthias Steiner took part in the training day at an airport site in Weeze with a camera team. The fitness and nutrition coach not only experienced how people trapped in destroyed buildings must feel, but also learnt a great deal about the work of the rescue teams, who work exclusively on a voluntary basis: “Respect, men and women! I now know that as a victim, you have to trust your helpers. And the I.S.A.R colleagues made it very easy for me to let them rescue me. My admiration is simply immense. It's not a matter of course to put your life on the line for others - and then also in foreign crisis areas where your colleagues don't know what to expect and whether everything will turn out well. This work simply needs to be supported! Help us, it's very simple. Please make a donation!"
During the RTL telethon on 21/22 November 2019, Matthias Steiner will be live in the studio with Wolfram Kons and will tell viewers about his experiences and adventures on the training day. The donations collected will be used to finance the special training of the I.S.A.R. staff and the purchase of equipment and medicines for the „Mother and Child“ module.
Background „Mother and Child“: Medical module for rapid assistance for children and families in disaster situations
I.S.A.R. Germany provides aid, both nationally and internationally, to save lives. After (natural) disasters, emergency aid teams specially tailored to the needs can be dispatched to the organisations or agencies of the affected country seeking help within six hours of the disaster and receipt of the request for assistance. These emergency aid teams are the UN-certified search and rescue team (search and rescue with search dogs, technical localisation, rescue, logistics, medicine, management) and the WHO-certified medical team. Both units can be deployed together or separately. More than 15 years of experience after natural disasters, e.g. after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, show that most medical teams are deployed to treat survivors rescued from the rubble with their specific injury patterns. However, with very few exceptions, no medical treatment is provided for pregnant women, newborns and small children in such crisis situations. Such a patient group requires special equipment, specially trained staff and customised medication. Baby food is also carried for newborn care after the acute situation, as mothers who are in poor health themselves are often unable to feed their newborns and infants (sufficiently).
Based on this, a special medical module - consisting of specially trained personnel and specially assembled equipment - is to be developed, which in future will make it possible to help these people within a few hours of a (natural) disaster. Depending on the requirements and needs of the country affected by the disaster, the „Mother and Child“ module can either be deployed together with the existing emergency response teams (Search and Rescue/Medical) or on its own. Self-sufficient logistics must be procured for this purpose. The size of the team can be scaled from ten to 30 people, depending on requirements. The module can be operated for between ten and a maximum of 30 days by the volunteer staff and should consist of specialists, including paediatricians, medical specialists, anaesthetists, gynaecologists, midwives and nursing staff, in order to reinforce or ensure the medical structures in the first hours/weeks after the disaster. The equipment, patients, patient data and the established structures are then handed over to subsequent rescue organisations or local doctors to ensure sustainability.
„RTL - Wir helfen Kindern“: More than 171 million euros since 1996
RTL has been committed to helping children in need in Germany and around the world since 1996. Collections are made throughout the year in numerous campaigns. All costs for personnel, production and administration associated with the „Stiftung RTL - Wir helfen Kindern e.V.“ are essentially borne by Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. The interest generated is also used to cover the administrative costs incurred by the foundation. In this way, the „Stiftung RTL - Wir helfen Kindern e.V.“ can guarantee that every cent of the donations reaches the children's aid projects without any deductions. Every year, the foundation is audited by the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI) and receives the coveted DZI donation seal of approval year after year. In recent years, more than 171 million euros have been collected. „RTL - Wir helfen Kindern“ has used this money to support hundreds of children's aid projects. Tens of thousands of children in Germany and around the world have received lasting help.
Help us and make a donation!
Donation account
Recipient: RTL Foundation
Account no: DE55 370 605 905 605 605 605
Bank: Sparda-Bank West
BIC: GENODED1SPK
Or donate directly online here.
Text: RTL - We help children