The rescue service in Germany is currently facing the greatest challenges in its history. Mathias Duschl from the European Resuscitation Academy pointed this out.
The Swiss network of experts is concerned with improving emergency services systems to save more people from cardiac arrest. Within just six years, the number of emergency services deployed had increased by 134 percent, Duschl reported on the final day of the 65th annual conference of the Association for the Promotion of German Fire Protection (vfdb) in Duisburg.
emergency rescue equipment
Duschl spoke of an “over-alert” of emergency rescue equipment. The rescue service is being misused as a “health service fire department”. At the same time, he gave various reasons for the development.
To make the rescue service fit for the future, a fundamental redesign of the entire emergency care system is necessary. Structural changes are necessary, said Jörg Wackerhahn, chairman of the working group “Fire Departments in the Rescue Service” (AG FReDi). “The way things are going now can’t continue.”
life-saving measures
The time until the emergency service arrives can be significantly reduced through resuscitation measures
The topic of “rescue services” was one of the focal points of the third day of the congress. The medical director of the emergency service in the city of Oldenburg, Jörg Gellern, presented a helper app that has been introduced by several municipalities. Geller pointed out that 72.9 percent of all cardiac arrest cases occur inside homes.
In addition to possible telephone support from the control center, the time until the emergency service arrives can be significantly reduced through resuscitation measures carried out by laypeople. To date, in almost 60 percent of cases, the most important life-saving measures were not carried out in the first five minutes.
digitalization and technical progress
With the introduction of the first aider app, up to 6,000 additional first aiders were registered in the Oldenburg area, who are alerted by the control center in emergencies. In the medium term, the goal is to recruit up to 10,000 helpers. Federal firefighter Klaus Friedrich also pointed out the high number of cases of sudden cardiac death. 150,000 people are affected every year.
As on the previous days, the last day of the event was all about digitalization and technical progress in emergency response from tablets at the scene to drones.
ideal conditions
vfdb President Dirk Aschenbrenner, as well as Vice President Dr. Anja Hofmann-Böllinghaus was confirmed in office, praised the Duisburg conference as another great source of inspiration for fire and disaster protection as well as rescue and safety. “This 65th event once again offered ideal conditions for dialogue between research and development, manufacturers and users and thus important suggestions for future developments,” said Aschenbrenner at the end of the congress.
At the same time, he acknowledged the particularly large turnout. Around 700 experts came to the Mercatorhalle in Duisburg. The next vfdb annual conference will take place in Ulm.