Rescue service in Europe: Austria

Legal bases

In Austria with its federal structure the rescue service falls under the legislative competency of the nine federal states. These oblige the municipal authorities to ensure that a rescue service is provided for the population. In addition, the federal government has the organisational responsibility for air rescue.

Organisation

The municipal authorities use the services of the relief organisations, with whom they enter into contractual agreements for this purpose, in order to perform these tasks. These are above all the Worker-Samaritan-Organisation [ASB] Austria, the Austria Red Cross, the Johanniter Accident Assistance Organisation Austria and the Maltese Hospital Service Austria. In addition, several private providers carry out patient transports. The deadline for providing assistance, the period of time from receipt of an emergency report in the responsible operation centre until arrival of the means of rescue at the emergency location is on average 15 minutes.

Control centres

The whole rescue service operation is steered by control centres. They are operated by either a state department, the municipal authority or a relief organisation. The control centres can be contacted nationwide under the standard telephone number 144.

Medical participation

A blanket coverage emergency doctor service is available almost without exception. In locations where no emergency doctor is available based on the ground the care is ensured by rescue helicopter within the framework of the possibilities (e.g. dependent on the weather conditions). The Austria Medical Act stipulate that doctors have to participate in a 60 hour theoretical and practical training course and regular further training courses for the assistance in an organised emergency doctor service.

Air rescue

The blanket coverage care with rescue helicopters is provided by 14 helicopter stations. They are operated by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, by the Automobile Club ÖAMTC and by the Federal Army and in several regions represent the only possibility to provide emergency medical care for emergency patients.

Personnel / training

On 1 July 2002, the Austrian "Sanitätergesetz - SanG" entered into force. This "federal law on training, activity and occupation of paramedics" is the first law regulating the training of full-time staff, volunteers and civil service workers. The four-stage modular training improves the situation of more than 41,000 full-time and voluntary paramedics in Austria. The text of the law was set-up by the Workers' Samaritan Federation Austria, the Austrian Red Cross, the St. John's Ambulance, the Maltese Hospital Service Austria and the Austrian Federal Army.

Financing

The rescue service is financed two thirds by funds from the social insurance. In addition, the states and the municipal authorities contribute to covering the costs. As a rule the municipal authorities remit a so-called "rescue shilling" to the rescue organisations, an amount per resident that is negotiated respectively and therefore varies considerably in amount.

Rescue helicopters are initially maintained from state funds; certain services or transports are remunerated by the various funding bodies of the social insurance according to flat rates.