Emergency care in Brandenburg: Where is the help when it counts?

Emergency care in Brandenburg: Where is the help when it counts?

A dramatic incident has highlighted the already tense situation in the rescue service in the remote paddocks of Brandenburg: A farmer was stung by a wasp while working, had an allergic reaction and fell into a state of shock. The fatal thing about it: he didn't have his emergency medication at hand. In an emergency like this, the burning question is – how quickly can help be reached? In rural areas, around 15 kilometers from Neuruppin, the answer to this question can be life-deciding. The local hospital is 20 minutes away, and how berliner-kurier.de reported, in many cases the helicopter is called because the ambulances often take too long to reach the patients.

Aid deadlines and their fulfillment

The response times in the German emergency services are important in order to ensure that patients are treated quickly. However, these deadlines vary greatly from state to state. In Brandenburg, according to the law, rescue workers must be at the scene within 15 minutes. However, statistics show that this deadline could often not be met in 2022, especially in rural areas such as Spree-Neiße and Ostprignitz-Ruppin, where only 81 percent and 82 percent of operations were completed within this specified time. These alarming numbers highlight the challenges that come with even the legally required response times. Even in metropolitan areas, compliance with these deadlines was not consistently guaranteed, as has also been reported.

In order to address the supply-related problems, the Ministry of Health is discussing a reform of the emergency system. The aim is to improve the networking between emergency services, hospitals and rescue services in order to be able to respond more quickly to emergencies. According to the Steiger Foundation A differentiated aid period that takes into account the urgency of medical emergencies could help to significantly increase patients' chances of survival. This is particularly important because not every illness requires the same reaction time. While cardiac arrest requires immediate attention, less critical cases can wait a little longer.