Emergency medicine in the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service-Evaluation of medical emergencies in the North Sea and Baltic Sea over 2 years

• Published in: Der Anaesthesist Vol. 70; no. 4; pp. 280 - 290
• Main Authors: Schemke, S, Schwalbe, H, Grunewald, L, Maurer, H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: German
• Published: Germany 01-04-2021
• Subjects: Air Ambulances; Emergencies; Emergency Medical Services; Emergency Medicine; Humans; North Sea; Oceans and Seas; Rescue Work; Retrospective Studies; North Sea; Sea rescue; Resuscitation; SAR—Search and Rescue; Hypothermia; Maritime medicine
• ISSN: 1432-055X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00101-020-00885-5

The logistic peculiarities of an emergency maritime location and the frequent additional threat of accidental hypothermia mean that the treatment of medical emergencies at sea are particularly demanding. This article describes the characteristics of emergency medical missions of the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) as the main provider of non-helicopter-based medical maritime rescue on the seas off the coasts of Germany.
A retrospective analysis of all missions by the DGzRS in 2017 and 2018 was carried out. The data and times of the missions as well as the severity of the diseases of the patients (graduated using the NACA score) were evaluated and exemplarily compared to those of a medical emergency ambulance service from the City of Lübeck.
In a total of 182 medical missions 224 patients were treated. The mission units of the DGzRS needed a mean time of 30 ± 21 min up to arrival and 43 ± 30 min for rescue, treatment and transport. In 63 missions the patients were accompanied by an emergency physician, who was brought in from the ground rescue service in 44 missions. Due to the waiting time for boarding of the additional personnel, the departure in 26 missions was delayed by an average of 18 ± 7 min. The average severity of the disease in the maritime rescue was significantly higher than in the emergency medical service of Lübeck but the number of resuscitations and fatalities were comparable.
Although the severity of medical emergencies on the seas off the coasts of Germany was high, the emergency physicians frequently arrived with a considerable delay. There is an urgent need for an effective support of the DGzRS by medical personnel specifically trained for maritime missions.