It is still the only 24-hour helicopter in Baden-Württemberg: Christoph 11, stationed at the Villingen-Schwenningen station. Since October 1, 2017, it has also been possible to alert it at night, and now the air rescuers have drawn their first conclusions: In 2017, the machine was alerted to 90 missions in the dark, and today the crews carry out over 400 night-time missions a year. Christoph 11 is therefore an indispensable component of comprehensive emergency medical care in the region, but also throughout Baden-Württemberg.

Whether it’s a seriously ill child who needs to be operated on as quickly as possible in the children’s hospital in Tübingen, or a heart patient whose life depends on immediate care in a heart center – on board Christoph 11, these transports have been able to be carried out particularly quickly and gently at night for the past five years be carried out . Until the service times were extended, helicopters had to be requested from Switzerland or Bavaria in the event of night-time emergencies and for urgent transport of intensive care units between clinics. Depending on the location in Baden-Württemberg, this led to long approach and return times. dr Jörg Braun, Medical Director of the DRF Luftrettung, underlines the advantages: “Emergencies don’t look at the clock. With Christoph 11 the people here in the region and throughoutBaden-Württemberg has optimal emergency care from the air available around the clock . The number of nightly deployments clearly shows that the decision to upgrade a 24-hour location in Baden-Württemberg was the right one.”

The crews of the station, which is operated by the DRK rescue service Schwarzwald-Baar gGmbH, carry out more than 1,800 operations every year. Around a fifth of the often life-saving operations take place in the dark. During the day, almost 90 percent of all operations are for quick emergency rescue. There is a clear difference at night: In 60 percent of the cases, Christoph 11 is alerted to an acute emergency, in 40 percent for the rapid transport of intensive care patients between clinics.