MaReC – More Than a Competition

MAREC is not a “competition in the classical sense”.
MAREC is operationally realistic training, scenario-based education, and scientifically guided development of respiratory protection operations.
It is aimed especially at team leaders, instructors, and management personnel of participating or interested teams.

1. Basis: FwDV 7 – Training under realistic conditions

The German Fire Service Regulation FwDV 7 explicitly requires careful, realistic training and further education in respiratory protection.

Annex 4, section 2.1.3 “Operational Exercises”, states:

“During exercises, the respiratory protection user should perform task-specific activities under realistic operational conditions wherever possible; for example, rescuing people, conducting emergency drills, operating hoses under pressure, opening doors, searching rooms with different backup routes, marking rooms, climbing ladders, entering through window openings […]”

Additionally, the following are required:

• Respiratory protection monitoring for every exercise
• Mandatory emergency training
• Realistic simulation using acoustic and visual cues
• Practice in status reporting and communication

MAREC does not just meet these requirements – it implements them consistently and operationally.

2. Realistic reproduction of actual respiratory incidents

MAREC stations are not fictional scenarios; they are based on real respiratory protection incidents.

In particular, Station 1 – the so-called “Messi Apartment” – represents a fully operational Mayday scenario.

This station was:

• Developed in coordination with participants of an actual incident,
• Prepared incorporating findings from the accident commission,
• Tactically structured so that full completion according to FwDV 7 is required.

Minor adjustments (e.g., entry depth) were deliberately made to compensate for limitations of training dummies – without altering tactical realism.

This is not about “running against the clock”. It is about structured handling of a real emergency situation.

3. Implementation of FwDV 7 in MAREC stations

The content directly corresponds to the requirements in Annex 4, section 2.1.3:

✔ Rescue under respiratory protection

• Complete Mayday scenario
• RIT bag handling
• Emergency reporting

✔ Operating hoses under pressure

• Water-filled hoses are used in the “Messi Apartment”

✔ Opening doors

• Training on real interior doors

✔ Searching rooms with alternative backup

• Station 2 (“Obstacle course”) offers various alternative safety systems

✔ Entering through window openings

• Part of the obstacle station

✔ Climbing ladders

• Part of the “Fall” station

✔ Working under limited visibility

• Obscuration using fog film
• Lighting effects
• Acoustic stimuli

This trains exactly the skills explicitly required by FwDV 7.

4. Continuous supervision, safety, and debriefing

A key difference from a traditional competition is the ongoing professional supervision of all teams.

• Each team is accompanied throughout the exercise by trained, experienced personnel.
• Compliance with operational principles according to FwDV 7 is monitored.
• Safety is the top priority – self- or cross-endangerment is not tolerated.

Additionally, each exercise unit is debriefed in a structured way.

During these debriefings:

• Tactical decisions are analyzed,
• Communication processes are reflected on,
• Safety aspects are evaluated,
• Alternative solutions are suggested.

MAREC does not end with completing the station – the real learning happens during the professionally guided debriefing.

MAREC not only meets the FwDV 7 training concept but extends it with an intensive reflection phase.

5. Scientific supervision and research

MAREC is planned and conducted in close cooperation with:

• Hamburg Fire Academy
• Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW)

The project also serves to:

• scientifically study communication under stress,
• analyze decision-making under respiratory protection,
• develop tactical training approaches,
• assess physical strain during respiratory protection operations.

Team communication is a key research focus of HAW.

MAREC is therefore a training and research project – not a sports competition.

6. Relevance for fire service leadership

For leadership, MAREC means:

• Practice-oriented training according to FwDV 7 (thus maintaining operational capability per Annex 4, point 3),
• Intensive emergency training,
• Realistic Mayday training,
• Structured operational reflection,
• Scientifically guided knowledge acquisition,
• High safety standards through continuous supervision,
• The term “competition” is used solely to increase psychological pressure, similar to operational stress.

MAREC supplements routine training with operational scenarios that cannot often be represented with this intensity in everyday operations.