Maritime Emergency Medicine in the German North and Baltic Sea

摘要

Rescue and emergency medical care at sea provides several challenges far off the coast. Due to the remote locations at sea, particularly the prolonged time interval between prehospital emergency care and transport to hospital is substantially different to land-based emergencies. An important part of the maritime medicine is the Tele-medical Maritime Assistance Service. In contrast to merchant ships, on board a cruise ship there is always a medical team, which enables advanced medical care to be offered. In the German North and Baltic Seas, the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) provides a sea rescue service with life boats and sea rescue cruisers and thus the opportunity for medical evacuations. Because of the time advantage, the latter is often done by the air-sea rescue service with its helicopters, run by the German navy. These must be equipped with a winch because only few ships provide a helipad. Working for an air-sea rescue service requires protective equipment, and specific as well as permanent training. New aspects have emerged because of offshore wind-farms, and for these, specialized air rescue services have been established in the meantime. Analyzing all rescue missions in the German North and Baltic Seas and in offshore wind-farms can provide an evidence base for maritime emergency medicine.