Offshore Air Rescue

In the Air within 15 Minutes

While our medical staff in the wind farms and their accompanying ships provide initial care, further measures are necessary in an emergency. If a person is seriously injured or ill and requires additional medical help and quick transport to clinics on the mainland, air rescue will take action.

When the alarm goes off, the offshore air rescue will be in the air in 15 minutes. A five-person team flies to ships and platforms in the North and Baltic Seas on special rescue helicopters from Northern Helicopter (NHC). Part of said team is one of our emergency paramedics – seven days a week, around the clock. On board the helicopters are not only pilots, winch operators and medical staff, but also a lot of technology. This includes modern emergency medical equipment such as intensive care monitoring, turbine-powered ventilators, syringe pumps, infusion warmers, heated vacuum mattresses, ultrasound and a mechanical CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) device. For a successful mission, both experienced personnel and first-class equipment are essential - but above all, intensive training.

In order to rescue people from a hundred-meter-high wind turbine, from open water (helicopter-assisted water rescue) or from a small ship (dynamic winching), communication, procedures and every move must be precisely coordinated. The special rescue from heights and depths (SRHT) also requires a lot of training as well as trust in the material and people. For this reason, our emergency medical personnel practice regularly and are well prepared for their tasks with over a hundred hours of training and winch cycles per year.

The offshore air rescue teams at the Sankt Peter-Ording and Güttin on Rügen locations not only face the challenges of air rescue at sea, but also carry out rescue missions on the mainland in an emergency when no other rescue helicopter is available.