USAG Wiesbaden conducts First Aid workplace training

CLAY KASERNE, Germany - U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden certified approximately 20 new local national employees as workplace first responders this month, reinforcing emergency readiness and workplace safety across installation directorates.

The garrison conducted eight host nation employee training sessions throughout September to comply with German occupational safety law, which requires employers to qualify five to 10 percent of their workforce as designated first responders.

The biennial program provides both initial certification for new participants and refresher courses for previously trained staff. Beyond meeting host-nation legal mandates, the training addresses the critical time gap before emergency medical personnel arrive on scene.

"We offer our employees the opportunity to become first responders so they can administer emergency medical care in the event of an emergency until emergency responders arrive, because time is of the essence," said Goetz Kalweit, a USAG Wiesbaden safety specialist. "Secondly, it is especially important for our craftsman at DPW (Directorate of Public Works) to be able to act quickly and effectively, as more serious injuries can occur more frequently in their line of work."

Rapid medical intervention is especially vital for Directorate of Public Works tradesmen and maintenance personnel operating indoors and outdoors, where the risk of severe occupational injury is highest.

The course is offered every two years, and interested employees can register through the garrison Safety Office.

First Aid instructor Richard Strenzhorn has been teaching the class to local nationals at Garrison Wiesbaden for years and has been working for the German Red Cross in various capacities for 60 years.

"We're not here to meet a quota, but to keep our coworkers, friends, and neighbors alive," said Strenzhorn, "Eighty-two percent of the time, you need to provide help in a familiar environment and the person on the ground is someone from your personal circle."

Strenzhorn learned early on how important first aid is. At age 13, Strenzhorn took his first one-week first aid course. Driven by the desire to be able to help his friends with sports injuries, he soon had to apply his knowledge in real life.

"An elderly couple had been in a car accident right where we lived. Twenty adults were standing around the accident, and no one knew what to do," Strenzhorn said.

Using what he had learned in the first aid course he gave his father instructions, and together they pulled the two people out of the car. Together they applied a head bandage to the man, who had been thrown through the windshield because he wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

"I don't know if they survived, but I always wondered, 'is there something we could have done different, better, or faster,'" said Strenzhorn.

During the training, participants learn about legal and liability protections, proper procedures for securing accident scenes, and the decision-making process for administering emergency aid.

The training also features hands-on instruction in lifesaving first aid techniques, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), wound management, and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

With the newly certified employees, the USAG Wiesbaden now has around 130 certified first responders across the installation.

Workplace Safety

Maria Diaz with Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation, a trained first responder, has personally experienced the value of these types of courses.

During her career working at Wiesbaden, she has directly relied on her first aid and CPR/AED certifications in three life-or-death emergencies, two of them at the workplace: Stabilizing a severely injured motorcycle accident victim and twice resuscitating gym patrons experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. All of those techniques are taught during the first responder courses.

One of them reaches out yearly to thank her for the fast help.

"He fell off the treadmill, hit his head because he had suffered a heart attack. I started chest compressions and mouth to mouth until we got an AED attached and brought him back," Diaz recounts. "He gained consciousness long enough for me to be able to talk to him and was breathing on his own by the time the paramedics arrived."

Although it takes emergency personnel only a few minutes to reach any location on the installation, those minutes are often critical to the injured person's health.

"I would have never been able to do that without the training," said Diaz. "He now sends an email around Thanksgiving every year saying thank you for the quick actions to save his life and that he can spend the holidays with the people he loves."

While the host-nation certification program is tailored for local national personnel, U.S. military and civilian employees seeking first aid certification can coordinate training through the American Red Cross office located in Building 1201 on Clay Kaserne.