INTERSCHUTZ 2010

The INTERSCHUTZ 2010 is over and was very successful for the Netzwerk Feuerwehrfrauen (Network of Female Firefighters). More than 1,350 exhibitors from 46 nations showcased their products and services and 125,000 people attended the exhibition over the six days of the show. We had a small but mighty booth and many visitors had a great interest in our work. The success was awesome and greater than anticipated. We had three main target groups. First were, of course, other female firefighters we wanted to get to know and inform about our network. We had many interesting conversations, were able to exchange lots of ideas and gained new members. The second target audience were the male colleagues, especially the fire chiefs. We received great feedback for our work. Many told us that they appreciate the information we provide on our homepage www.feuerwehrfrauen.de. We also had controversial discussions about topics like recruiting of female firefighters, physical fitness, physical ability tests, station requirements, uniforms and personal protective equipment as well as pregnancy policies, maternity issues or harassment. The third group were the kids, especially little girls and their parents and fire service personnel responsible for fire prevention education. The goal was to show young children that female firefighters are part of the fire service and let them grow up with this knowledge. To achieve this goal we created a coloring sheet with a female firefighter, shared paper models, advertised a children’s book about a female firefighter and equipped two Barbies® with turnout gear. The reception was very good and in the future we’ll expand our offers for kids.
During the INTERSCHUTZ, the Netzwerk Feuerwehrfrauen offered three workshops. The first one was about female firefighters international. We held it with colleagues from Australia, Switzerland and the Netherlands and reported about the conferences we attended in the USA and the UK. The second workshop was about becoming a career female firefighter. We informed about the recruitment process and career possibilities. The third workshop was especially for women in the volunteer fire service. The women’s representative of the German Fire Service Association talked about the status quo of volunteer female firefighters and the need to support and promote more women into leading positions.
The annual general meeting of our network was held on June 10, 2010 during the exhibition. Susanne Klatt and Tanja Dittmar were reelected as chair and vice chair and the new board was formed. Also the future activities and the financial planning were discussed.
The INTERSCHUTZ also gave us the possibility to talk to companies about our concerns like poor-fitting protective gear. Over the last years we’ve had many inquiries from female firefighters and also fire departments for proper fitting turnout gear. The reactions of the companies were surprisingly positive and we are in negotiation to create and promote uniforms for women. The cooperation with universities to accompany studies related to female firefighters were also intensified.
The media also had a great interest in us. Every day we had good press, both regional and national in TV, radio, daily and specialized press and our own press releases were well accepted.
Now the INTERSCHUTZ is over and we work off the numerous contacts we made during the exhibition with female firefighters, fire departments, companies and organizations, and we made many contacts with future sponsors of our network. We also arranged many dates for activities, events and training sessions for the future.
We met old friends and found new ones and networked a lot. It was sad that there were just a few female firefighters from other countries, but nevertheless, we were able to intensify our contacts especially with companies and organizations from the US like the IAFC, NFPA and TEEX. Sure it was a lot of stress during these six days, but it was absolutely worth it. The next INTERSCHUTZ is from June 8 – 13 2015 in Hannover and we’ll definitely be there!