Rescue service in Saarland: Decision postponed again!

Rescue service in Saarland: Decision postponed again!

Bexbach, Deutschland - In Saarland, the future of emergency services is on the brink! On Thursday, December 12th, an important decision on the award of the 37 rescue guards should have been made in the association meeting of the ZRF rescue association. But there was no decision because the cash registers rejected the assumption of costs again. As SR , the total costs for next year should increase from around 100 million euros to 125 million euros.

The health insurers indicate that despite a second tender, no real competition had arisen. There were only 15 applications of the 15 lots advertised, which means that the organizations already involved such as the DRK, Malteser, ASB and the Johanniter would divide the orders as usual. In order to ensure the continuity of the emergency services, the ZRF plans an interim solution: the existing contracts with the current operators should first be extended and an arbitration board should be involved in order to reach an agreement. The head of the association, Udo Recktenwald, has not been able to participate in the meeting due to bias, but assured that a functioning emergency services will also be ensured after the contracts expired on March 1, 2025.

rescue purpose association under pressure

The need for a well -functioning emergency services is undisputed, because this is part of the provision of services in Saarland, which must be organized uniformly nationwide. The zrf was founded in 1977 and has the task of carrying out the emergency services in accordance with the Saarland emergency services law. However, the current situation shows how conflict loading can be the financing and organization of this important public service in the region.