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A Bavaria-wide problem: ambulances are called even though there is no life-threatening emergency.
© Monika Skolimowska/dpa
The lifesavers have a problem: more and more people are calling 911 without an emergency.
The local deputy head of the BRK rescue service explains in an interview what this leads to.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – You dial 112 and no one comes.
A nightmare for many.
For Sebastian Limmer too.
He is deputy head of the rescue service at the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK) in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district.
The lifesavers have a problem: more and more people are calling 911 without an emergency.
Limmer explains what problems this leads to – for rescuers and patients – in a conversation with our employee Marie Kronawitter.
More and more people are calling 911 without an emergency - a problem for lifesavers
Mr. Limmer, last year 3.5 million people called the emergency number in Bavaria. That's 500,000 more than the year before. Are there so many more emergencies?
The problem is that people no longer know when 911 is the right number.
Many people are overwhelmed by the flu or a gastrointestinal infection and then call the emergency services.
That sounds like a big city problem.
It may not be as bad here in the district as in big cities, such as Munich, but it is still there.
This is a problem across Bavaria, and it doesn't stop at us either.
Sebastian Limmer, deputy head of the BRK rescue service in the district.
© Private
What does this mean for control centers and emergency services?
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Our rescue service system is geared towards emergencies.
This means we have a certain number of vehicles and a certain capacity.
Particularly in rural areas, problems arise when an ambulance is called even though there is no life-threatening emergency.
Then things get tight for us in terms of personnel.
So it's the system of our emergency services?
No, the population is also to blame.
Many people no longer know what to do when they have the flu.
People no longer learn it from their parents or grandparents and then dial 112. True to the motto: It's better to call instead of trying to get cured.
Many people no longer know when to call emergency services and when not to.
Many people no longer know what to do when they have the flu.
People no longer learn it from their parents or grandparents and then dial 112.
Sebastian Limmer, deputy head of the BRK rescue service in the district.
When do I dial 112? Is there a rule of thumb?
A rule of thumb is always difficult.
But especially on weekends or at night you can ask yourself: Would I go to the doctor with this during the week?
If so, it is not the emergency number that is responsible, but the medical on-call service.
By the way, you can reach it on 116 117.
More and more people are dialing 112 - Deputy BRK leader in an interview
How do you deal with trivial calls?
First of all, we make no distinction between patients and treat everyone the same, whether there is a dangerous emergency or not.
Such trivial operations mean that an ambulance and its staff are unable to respond to actual emergencies for half an hour to an hour.
This means that there are no ambulances for the traffic accident because someone calls emergency services because of a gastrointestinal infection.
What do you think are the reasons for this?
In principle, one has to say that our healthcare system is one of the more complicated ones.
In other countries there are so-called health guides.
You can ask them if you don't know what the right contact point is.
We're missing something like that.
The emergency number and the medical on-call service are separate contact points and do not have a single number that I can call and then be forwarded to the right point.
Minor operations mean that an ambulance and its staff are unable to respond to actual emergency calls for half an hour to an hour.
Sebastian Limmer
What can you do as a citizen?
What can help is to take a first aid course more often than just for your driving license.
There you will learn exactly what an emergency is and when you should call 112.
And you learn to act yourself in other situations that are not life-threatening.
Many cell phones and cars automatically make an emergency call if, for example, the airbags in the vehicle are deployed. Is that also a reason for the many calls?
We definitely have cases of so-called e-calls.
But these are not the reason for more trivial trips.
On the contrary: they usually only notify the emergency services if there is really an emergency, for example if the person affected cannot make the emergency call themselves.
How does an employee decide on the phone whether there really is an emergency?
This is difficult.
Usually with targeted questions.
Lawmakers are currently working on a more precise catalog of questions than before.
One problem remains: You can't see the patient on the phone, so you can never be sure whether the assessment on the phone is the right one.
So can any person on the phone decide that Sanka won't come if I'm injured?
No not that.
This can subsequently have criminal consequences for employees who do not send anyone out.
That's why most people prefer to alert one ambulance more than one too few.
You can read the latest news from the Wolfratshausen/Geretsried region here.