Emergency Control Center for Offshore Wind Farms

This is where all the threads come together

All screens run 24/7. Always in focus: the phone, digital radio, and maritime radio. If an incident occurs or someone becomes ill in German waters or the exclusive economic zone on offshore wind turbines, platforms, or associated vessels, the personnel of the Offshore Wind Parks Emergency Control Center take over the coordination of emergency medical care. They are the premier contact persons for first responders on-site or the operations managers. They advise first aid instructions to responders, recommend and organize additional telemedical support from two clinics in Oldenburg and Berlin, and alert the necessary rescue resources.

In the cooperative maritime rescue control center, operated by the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Persons (DGzRS), emergency paramedics from the Stedingen local association man the offshore wind farm emergency control center for the Society for Maritime Emergency Management mbH (GMN). The DGzRS, together with the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center (MRCC Bremen), is responsible for the implementation and coordination of all maritime search and rescue measures in the North and Baltic Seas. With the Bremen Rescue Radio coastal radio station, the German North and Baltic Seas are permanently monitored via marine radio on VHF channel 16 so that no call for help goes unanswered.

In the offshore wind farm emergency control center, medical and nautical aspects are optimally taken into account when planning operations. If necessary, the control center alerts an offshore rescue helicopter, organizes alternatives and the required target clinics. The control center's everyday work is always varied: weather and local conditions at sea influence operations, as do the emergency services available on the offshore platforms and the associated ships. Despite different companies and nationalities, the control center ensures a consistent flow of information between everyone involved so that help gets to where it is needed quickly and effectively.

In addition to emergency medical care in the offshore area, our team supports the DGzRS in all medical matters, for example as a contact person for ships and crew members that are deployed worldwide. The employees of the DGzRS sea rescue control center keep an overview and ensure that no call for medical help in the North and Baltic Seas goes unanswered.