Freisingers often dial the emergency number without an emergency - the consequences can be fatal
Created: 01/11/2023, 19:00
By: Magdalena Hoecherl
Face big challenges, but are a strong team: (from left) Andreas Fischer, Cansin Özkurt, Hubert Böck, Magnus Hohlenburger and Lena Reinema from the BRK rescue service in Freising.
© Lehmann
The rescue service in the district is often overloaded because the emergency call is often dialed when the on-call service is sufficient.
The consequences can be fatal.
District
– The rescue service in the district of Freising is often overloaded.
Because time and time again, people call the emergency number, even though there is no emergency.
But a single call sets off a chain reaction that can have fatal consequences.
Hubert Böck, head of the BRK rescue service in the district, explains the problem in an interview.
He appeals to common sense – but also to politics.
Mr. Böck, why do you and your colleagues so often reach the limits of your resilience?
The problem is that too many patients are actually being cared for by the wrong resources.
I would like to illustrate this with an example.
Let's say a man has a medical condition, for example back pain.
So he calls his family doctor.
If he reaches her, all is well.
He gets an appointment, is advised and treated.
That is the ideal case. But what happens at the weekend or in the middle of the night?
If the man is well informed, he dials the number of the on-call medical service.
There he will be helped.
However, there are a lot of people calling there, so it can take a while to get through.
And sometimes you don't get through at all.
If this is the case, it is advisable to call the integrated control center directly.
People then make an emergency call, so to speak. What's next?
The integrated control center naturally assumes that the caller has an acute problem and then usually sends an ambulance.
Because she doesn't have any other options.
The emergency services personnel on site must then assess how best to treat the patient.
Of course, the colleagues often recognize that it is not an emergency for the emergency room in the hospital.
But they can't leave him at home when he's in pain.
So, for lack of alternatives, he is taken to the emergency room.
And this is gradually being blocked up by patients who are suffering but for whom there is no acute danger.
And accordingly, the emergency room no longer has capacity for real emergencies?
I agree.
When it reaches a certain capacity, it will be deregistered.
Then the control center knows that they can no longer send any more ambulances there.
This has happened more often in the past few months.
The emergency rooms in Freising and Erding were canceled.
Then we patients not only had to drive to Ebersberg, but to Ingolstadt or even to Weilheim.
And partly because of back pain.
The problem with this, in turn, is that the ambulance is then occupied for an hour or two and may not be available for an actual life-threatening emergency.
Before Christmas, for example, an ambulance from Freising was alerted to the Stachus in Munich because everyone there was occupied.
He then had to drive there alone for more than half an hour - and was not available for other jobs.
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(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
How to solve this problem? The rat tail that can hang on a wrong call is huge.
Of course, it would be ideal if the clinic staff were to be increased.
That's scarce everywhere in Bavaria.
Attempts are already being made to make the emergency rooms more efficient through restructuring – including in Freising.
Regarding telephone numbers: In Denmark, for example, there is no distinction between emergency calls and on-call service. Would that also be a desirable model?
I don't think the Danish system is bad.
The caller ends up in a switchboard, where they listen to the request and then arrange the appropriate care: Does he need a family doctor, a specialist, does he have to go to the hospital or does he need an appointment for an X-ray?
In some cases, this is already done via video in order to take a closer look at the patient.
The appointment will then be arranged and can be kept without long waiting times.
The good thing about this central emergency number is that the patient, as a medical layperson and already in a stressful situation, does not have to decide what is best for them.
This decision is made by the specialist staff.
This way you can use the resources much better.
In Denmark, this system is established and well accepted.
For Germany, however, this is still a dream of the future. What contribution can citizens already make to relieve the system?
I urge you to only call 911 in emergencies - such as breathing or heart problems.
If I've had back pain for a week and it gets a little worse on Sunday, I'm still not an emergency.
We were alerted once because someone cut their thumb with a knife - the wound was one centimeter long.
I really appeal to common sense.
The rule of thumb is actually quite simple: if it is something that I would call my family doctor about, I report to the on-call service of statutory health insurance physicians outside of office hours – and not to the emergency services.
Numbers for on-call service and emergency calls
The on-call doctor service can be reached on Tel. 116 117.
It replaces general practitioner care outside of office hours.
The emergency number 112 is intended for emergencies.
You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.
