Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe
Encyclopedia
Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. (JUH; German
for "St. John Accident Assistance"), commonly referred to as Die Johanniter, is a voluntary
humanitarian
organisation affiliated with the Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Order of St John, the German
Protestant
descendant of the Knights Hospitaller
. The organisation was founded in 1952 in Hanover
under the leadership of Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff
, one of the main reasons for its creation being the rise in injuries and deaths from road traffic accidents (hence the word "accident" in its name). JUH participates in international aid efforts together with its sister organisations in other countries as part of the Johanniter International
partnership; it also works with the German Malteser Hilfsdienst, affiliated to the Catholic
Sovereign Military Order of Malta. As of 2008 the organisation has 28,300 active volunteers and youth members and around 1,500,000 registered members.
Among recent developments of JUH in Germany is the establishment of local and regional groups that provide first responder services on horseback (see Mounted search and rescue
).
are another factor that contributes to JUH's economic success. More than 10,000 children and youths are engaged in the organisation's youth chapter Johanniter-Jugend. This youth chapter is a member of the Evangelical youth consortium in Germany and also of the European Movement
Germany.
Since 2002 retired General Hans-Peter von Kirchbach is president of Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe. Professor Horst Wilms is the federal chief physician.
was founded on 21 June 1974 in Vienna, where it first conducted patient transport together with the Austrian Red Cross
with a single van. Today JUH in Austria is member of the Vier for Wien ambulance association. Vienna's four largest ambulance services (Red Cross, Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Austria, JUH and Malteser Hilfsdienst, have been cooperating for a few years now in the ambulance sector. JUH serves areas in Vienna, Orth an der Donau
, Tyrol and Carinthia
. These regions have different focuses though. While JUH in Vienna is primarily tasked with emergency medical service, the Johanniters in Tyrol are mainly employed with home nursing and patient transport. There is an acute nursing service A.I.D that is specific to Vienna.
in 2004, the relief organisation Joannici Dzieło Pomocy was founded, which became active on 31 August 2004. Together with the Polish Johanniter foundation (established 2003) it engages primarily in ambulance services, nursing and youth work. Since its foundation, Joannici Dzieło Pomocy has recorded a constant growth which is thought to continue due to high requests in first aid
courses.
Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe has bound itself to Christian charity. As a work of the Order of St John it sees its challenge in the needs and dangers of the people. The central motivation is humanitarian aid.
The statutory tasks of JUH include
Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. is a registered charity association according to German law. It is an association within Diakonisches Werk
of the Evangelical Church in Germany
and is an acknowledged voluntary relief organisation in accordance with article 26 of the first Geneva convention
of 12 August 1949.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for "St. John Accident Assistance"), commonly referred to as Die Johanniter, is a voluntary
Voluntary association
A voluntary association or union is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement as volunteers to form a body to accomplish a purpose.Strictly speaking, in many jurisdictions no formalities are necessary to start an association...
humanitarian
Humanitarianism
In its most general form, humanitarianism is an ethic of kindness, benevolence and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings. Humanitarianism has been an evolving concept historically but universality is a common element in its evolution...
organisation affiliated with the Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Order of St John, the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
descendant of the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
. The organisation was founded in 1952 in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
under the leadership of Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff
Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff
Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff was a military officer in Germany’s Weimar-period Reichswehr and Nazi-period Wehrmacht. He attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler by suicide bombing in March 1943; the plan failed but he was undetected. In April 1943 he discovered the mass graves of the...
, one of the main reasons for its creation being the rise in injuries and deaths from road traffic accidents (hence the word "accident" in its name). JUH participates in international aid efforts together with its sister organisations in other countries as part of the Johanniter International
Johanniter International
Johanniter International is a non-profit organisation formed as an international partnership between national charities of The Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem...
partnership; it also works with the German Malteser Hilfsdienst, affiliated to the Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
Sovereign Military Order of Malta. As of 2008 the organisation has 28,300 active volunteers and youth members and around 1,500,000 registered members.
Among recent developments of JUH in Germany is the establishment of local and regional groups that provide first responder services on horseback (see Mounted search and rescue
Mounted search and rescue
Mounted search and rescue is a specialty within search and rescue , using horses as search partners and for transportation to search for missing persons. SAR responders on horseback are primarily a search resource, but also can provide off-road logistics support and transportation...
).
Germany
Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe in Germany is organised in nine state chapters which comprise more than 200 associations on district and local levels. It has about 12,000 full-time and part-time employees and is supported by roughly 1.5 million financial donors. The Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Order of St John has been certified as a recipient of donations by Deutsches Zentralinstitut für soziale Fragen (German Central Institute for Social Matters), a Berlin based private organisation. Civil servantsZivildienst
Zivildienst is the civilian branch of the national service systems in Austria and Switzerland. In Germany as well Zivildienst was the alternative service to military service until suspension of conscription in 2011...
are another factor that contributes to JUH's economic success. More than 10,000 children and youths are engaged in the organisation's youth chapter Johanniter-Jugend. This youth chapter is a member of the Evangelical youth consortium in Germany and also of the European Movement
European Movement
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...
Germany.
Since 2002 retired General Hans-Peter von Kirchbach is president of Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe. Professor Horst Wilms is the federal chief physician.
Austria
Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe in AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
was founded on 21 June 1974 in Vienna, where it first conducted patient transport together with the Austrian Red Cross
Austrian Red Cross
The Austrian Red Cross is the national Red Cross-Organization in Austria and is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement...
with a single van. Today JUH in Austria is member of the Vier for Wien ambulance association. Vienna's four largest ambulance services (Red Cross, Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Austria, JUH and Malteser Hilfsdienst, have been cooperating for a few years now in the ambulance sector. JUH serves areas in Vienna, Orth an der Donau
Orth an der Donau
Orth an der Donau is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is located on the bank of the Danube River, about fifteen miles east of Vienna.In the 1880s its population was about 3,000....
, Tyrol and Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
. These regions have different focuses though. While JUH in Vienna is primarily tasked with emergency medical service, the Johanniters in Tyrol are mainly employed with home nursing and patient transport. There is an acute nursing service A.I.D that is specific to Vienna.
Poland
The Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Order of St John has been active for more than 20 years in neighbouring Poland where it has established 21 social care points. In the course of the eastward expansion of the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
in 2004, the relief organisation Joannici Dzieło Pomocy was founded, which became active on 31 August 2004. Together with the Polish Johanniter foundation (established 2003) it engages primarily in ambulance services, nursing and youth work. Since its foundation, Joannici Dzieło Pomocy has recorded a constant growth which is thought to continue due to high requests in first aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
courses.
Tasks of Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe
The statutory tasks of JUH include
- Training: Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe participates in public first aid training, e.g. for driving lioence candidates, for companies, etc., as well as in the special training of nurses and emergency medical technicianEmergency medical technicianEmergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
s. - Emergency medical service: JUH operates 210 ambulance stations in Germany which are equipped with patient transport ambulances, emergency ambulances and emergency physician vehicles.
- Civil defence and disaster relief: this task involves the response to major disasters. JUH therefore mans vehicles and stations provided by the federal and state governments of Germany. These tasks are mainly handled by voluntary personnel, e.g. all search and rescue dogSearch and rescue dogThe use of dogs in search and rescue is a valuable component in wilderness tracking, natural disasters, mass casualty events, and in locating missing people. Dedicated handlers and well-trained dogs are required for the use of dogs to be effective in search efforts...
squadrons are based on volunteers. JUH also maintains a network of crisis interventionCrisis interventionCrisis Intervention can be defined as emergency psychological care aimed at assisting individuals in a crisis situation to restore equilibrium to their biopsychosocial functioning and to minimise the potential for psychological trauma...
and post-trauma support teams. - Social care: Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe provide care for children and youths (also by training student first responders at schools), for disabled and elderly persons. They operate social centres, kindergartens, stationary institutions for the elderly, medical alarmMedical alarmA medical alarm is an alarm system designed to signal the presence of a hazard requiring urgent attention and to summon emergency medical personnel. Other terms for a medical alarm are Personal Emergency Response System or medical alert....
s and provide meals on wheelsMeals on WheelsMeals on Wheels are programs that deliver meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programs, not all of which are actually named "Meals on Wheels"...
. In 2005 the first stationary hospiceHospiceHospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...
was established and furthermore ambulatory hospice is provided. Moreover JUH engages in caring for dementiaDementiaDementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
patients and the support of relatives. - International aid: the Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Order of St John is engaged in 30 countries of the world. Medical treatment is thereby based on the experience of Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe in Germany. This brings about the core tasks of JUH abroad: medical relief in response to disasters, support in restoring civilian everyday life in crisis areas, establishing health care, medical training and skill enhancement, fighting of infectious diseases and epidemia, and orthopaedic treatment for disabled persons and war casualties. The focus remains on basic health care for people in areas affected by disasters and otherwise aggrieved regions of the world. Together with CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
Civil DefenseCivil defenseCivil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...
the European Technical Assistance Cooperation ist formed. Its purpose is to operate a Technical Assistance and Support Team.
Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. is a registered charity association according to German law. It is an association within Diakonisches Werk
Diakonisches Werk
The Diakonisches Werk is a charitable organization of Protestant churches in Germany , Austria as well as numerous free churches. Its Roman Catholic equivalent is the Caritas....
of the Evangelical Church in Germany
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
and is an acknowledged voluntary relief organisation in accordance with article 26 of the first Geneva convention
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
of 12 August 1949.
External links
- Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. - official website
- Johanniter International - official website