Untersuchung zur Einbindung des Öffentlichen ...

3. Methods and Results
3.1 Law
A comprehensive analysis and profound commentary on Germany’s Federal acts
and the acts of each German State has been worked out. The information obtained
was synthesized in a synoptic listing of all relevant acts, administrative rules, and
directives identified with their sources indicated. In a closing summary,
considerations for drafts for conclusions valid for all German states were made and
were connected with cautious perspectives for potential consequences for the
German legislation and the executing administration.
The results of our analysis indicate that based on the currently valid catastrophe
prevention and health service acts the tasks of catastrophe prevention can be
completely fulfilled. Where there is lack of explicit wording in the acts – and this
is the regular case – reactions in the sense of clear wording to the letter should not
be demanded. This would only lead to an unnecessary legislative over-expansion
through over-regulation; such a development, however, would be contrarily to all
repeated efforts of de-regulation. In favour for the fact that the existing acts do not
have deficits, the following must be taken into consideration: in the catastrophe
prevention acts of the German States, authorizations to enact administrative rules
and directives can only be found sporadically, and where it is the case, they are not
specifically related to a topic (e.g., see § 43, part 1, No. 1, LBKG (catastrophe
prevention act of the State Rheinland-Pfalz). From the legislative body’s viewpoint,
this indicates also that there is no need for a more intensive regulation, even with
regard to the executive. The formal acts are regarded to be dedicated and sufficient;
everything else can be regulated on an operational level, i.e. by means of
administrative and organisational measures through executive ways. Thus, all goals
must be achieved through fulfilment and execution of the existing acts in the sense
of their true meaning, and – protected by law – can be accomplished. As a
conclusion – shortened as a thesis – the following recommendation for future
direction is made: Comprehensive use of all options of the existing acts precedes
the creation of further new acts or a change of existing acts.
3.2 Matters of Education and Training of Physicians and Non-Physician
Professionals in the German Public Health Service
All current curricula from the obligatory educational study programs for
physicians in medical schools and postgraduate training programs for the boards
of public health physicians were systematically evaluated for items related to
preparedness, response, and containment of catastrophes and disasters. The
evaluations were based on the official German “Item Catalogue of the Institute for
Medical and Pharmaceutical Questions for Examinations” for medical students
and on the official educational Guidelines of the German Federal Board of Public
Health Physicians for public health physicians. Additionally, the obligatory 6months
school course during the training for public health physicians in Germany
was evaluated for aspects relevant for catastrophe and disaster medicine. With
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