Ambulance Services in Europe: Luxembourg

Legal Basis

With the exception of the City of Luxembourg, where ambulance services are mainly provided by the fire brigade, the Civil Defence Force is responsible for the nationwide provision of ambulance services. The ambulance service is based on legislation passed in the Grand Duchy dated 20 June 1980 for the procurement of ambulance units within the framework of civil defence. The emergency doctor is regulated by the Grand Duchy Act of 27 February 1986. Since 1989, Luxembourg has had a nationwide emergency doctor system called SAMU (Service d’Aide Médicale Ur-gente), based on cooperation between the Civil Defence Force and the Health Ministry.

Organisation

In Luxembourg, ambulance services, with the exception of the emergency doctor and the professional fire brigade in the City of Luxembourg, are provided purely by volunteer ambulance workers. In case of deployment, ambulance workers are informed by radio via the command centre. In life-endangering situations, the command centre also dispatches the ambulance nearest to the scene, together with the emergency doctor vehicle. In the case of the ground-based ambulance service, relatively long delays ensue due to staff travelling with their private vehicles to the respective station and then on to the scene of the accident, whereas the air ambulances can reach any location in the country within a maximum of eight minutes.

Command Centres

In Luxembourg, there are two command centres, both accessible, nationwide, via the European emergency number 112. The command centre based in the fire brigade station is responsible for the city of Luxembourg; the civil defence command centre coordinates operations for the rest of the Grand Duchy.

Medical Aid

Medical aid is supplied by two doctors, specialised in anaesthetics and resuscitation with all relevant technical equipment at the scene. Each hospital region has an emergency doctor. The latter provides immediate,  round the clock cover by a team comprising one doctor and one nurse.

Air Rescue

In case of a distance to an accident scene of more than 15 km, from dawn to dusk, the emergency doctor can fall back on one of the two air ambulances of the charitable Luftrettungsvereinigung Luxembourg Air Rescue a.s.b.l. (LAR), via the emergency doctor units in Luxembourg and Ettelbrück. The LAR also flies secondary missions to major and maximum supply centres over the border, also at night, if need be.

Personnel/Training

The training for an ambulance operator lasts two years and finishes with a national examination. The trainees must be aged 16 years or over and have finished a 28-hour first aid course. During the two-year practical period, trainees attend a total of 56 hours of vocational events, a 16-hour initiation weekend at the National Civil Defence School and take part in a 12-hour training weekend at least once a year.

Finance

The two helicopters are financed solely by the LAR. No details are available as to the financing of the ambulance service.