Strukturparameter des Rettungswesens in Deutschland – Ergebnisse einer bundesweiten Abfrage und politische Einordnung

In light of the constantly increasing utilisation of emergency care and rescue services, the call from the healthcare sector and the scientific community for a comprehensive emergency care reform in Germany has been growing stronger. This publication is the first to analyse the structural parameters of emergency medical services in over 50 of Germany’s most populous rescue service areas, made up of large cities and rural districts. This should serve as a foundation for an objective discussion on the future and organisation of a reform of the German emergency medical services. The focus of this study is to analyse the utilisation, performance and structural parameters based on a survey of rescue service providers. The results indicate that the type of emergency call taking system has an influence on the extent to which emergency resources have to be available within a certain region. Furthermore, the analysis of the literature published on the subject and the scientific opinions and expert reports that are now available show that a nationwide, coordinated and comprehensive reform of emergency care, including dispatch centres, rescue service and emergency departments, is urgently required. With the help of the survey results presented in this paper, components are presented for an evidence-based foundation on the discussion about emergency medical services in Germany and important insights are provided for future decisions at all executive and legislative levels.