A man suffers from severe pain in the chest, a small girl is seriously injured in a car accident – in an emergency every minute counts! In a maximum of two minutes, the crew of the “Christoph 27” will be in the air to bring emergency medical care to people in an emergency. On 1 April, the takeover of the RTH station at Nuremberg airport by the DRF Luftrettung for the 20th time. The pilots, emergency physicians and paramedics have since been alerted to about 33,000 missions.

Since 1 April 1998 “Christoph 27” is in red and white over the rooftops of Nuremberg in use – primarily for the rapid emergency rescue. More than one in three DRF air rescue emergency patients must then be flown by helicopter to a suitable specialist hospital. “Our high number of applications for many years underlines the importance of ‘Christoph 27’ for the emergency medical care of the region,” underlines one who needs to know: the longtime pilot Werner Iberler. These days, the experienced pilot completed his 8,000th flight hour at the helm of a rescue helicopter. If one considers that sometimes few minutes of flight can already save a life, because the emergency doctor can be brought by the pilot as fast as possible to the patient, the meaning of this number becomes aware only. “Today, we average more than 1,500 jobs every year,” says Iberler. This makes the station one of the operationally strongest of the 29 air rescue stations of the DRF Luftrettung. Life-threatening illnesses like stroke or myocardial infarction belong here to the most frequent alarming reasons of “Christoph 27”. In the summer months, the air rescuers are also frequently alerted to crashed motorcyclists and recreational athletes.

The Nuremberg rescue helicopter of the DRF Luftrettung has a permanently installed rescue winch with a rope length of 90 meters. Thus, the crew reaches injured in difficult to reach areas such as the climbing gardens of the Franconian Switzerland or the Franconian Lake District. The mission can save valuable time and thereby save lives. In this context, the close cooperation with the BRK Bergwacht and the rescue group of the professional fire brigade Nuremberg should be emphasized, as well as the very good cooperation with the clinics Nuremberg, Erlangen, Fürth and Neumarkt, which provide the emergency physicians. Whether pilot, ambulance or paramedic – every single, experienced crew member contributes with his commitment to ensuring the rapid medical care of the population from the air.

Background information on the station Nuremberg (RTH)

“Christoph 27” is operational daily from 7:00 am until sunset. Within a radius of 60 kilometers, the red-white helicopter type EC 135 can be reached within a maximum of 15 minutes by air. “Christoph 27” is required in the control centers of Nuremberg, Ansbach, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Amberg, Regensburg and Schwabach.

In addition to “Christoph 27”, the DRF Luftrettung has stationed a second helicopter at the airport, the intensive transport helicopter “Christoph Nürnberg”, which is available 24/7 for the fast and gentle transport of intensive care patients between clinics – primarily in Bavaria, but also nationwide.