First Aid Newsletter

The Bundestag has passed the emergency care reform, which provides for central contact points (Integrated Emergency Centers) and digitally integrates the numbers 112 and 116117. Almost every second emergency department in Germany reports overload with risk to patient safety. The reform is intended to reduce misdirection and relieve emergency departments through better control and new emergency service tasks (e.g., billing for treatments instead of just transports).

Criticism of planned cost-cutting measures in emergency services: If trained doctors or paramedics are not available at the 116117 hotline, life-threatening delays threaten. Maltese, DRK, and Johanniter are calling for corrections to the bill before the third reading. The €1.2 billion savings target is assessed by relief organizations as a collapse risk for emergency care.

Survey shows: Almost every second emergency department in Germany is overloaded, in some cases with risk to patient safety. Emergency paramedics report many unnecessary hospital trips due to lack of alternative contact points. 13 million outpatient emergency cases were treated in 2024; structural adjustments are now reaching emergency departments nationwide.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, resuscitation training is now mandatory for all students in grades 7, 8, and 9, conducted by specially trained teachers. DRK and Youth Red Cross are calling in a position paper for the anchoring of health and crisis competency in all schools. Trend shows: Social prioritization of layperson resuscitation and first aid basic competencies.

Global awareness campaign for Restart a Heart Week emphasizes: Hands-only CPR can double or triple survival chances. In the London region, over 20,000 people were trained in CPR and AED use; personal survival stories show high success rates with quick action. Trend: Intensification of layperson training and public AED availability as core strategy.