Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) – From this Friday onwards, paramedics, who are often the first to arrive with the ambulance, can take on more medical measures. The state of Baden-Württemberg has now created the legal basis for this. The new skills include administering painkillers, for example. “We are taking an important step towards better emergency care,” Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) told the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” (Friday). He sees several advantages in the new regulation: The rescuers’ competencies would be fully exploited, the patients would benefit from faster initial care and the emergency doctors would be relieved.
The emergency services in the southwest had to move out to 1.35 million missions last year, a new record. In many regions of the country, they are therefore unable to comply with the legal requirements and are often too late. The change, which the federal government had already initiated at the beginning of 2021 and has now been implemented by the state, is intended to provide an initial remedy. This is real progress for the German Red Cross. “Now our people can finally put what they have learned into practice. And the patients no longer have to wait for the emergency doctor every time they are given painkillers,” said Udo Bangerter from the DRK.
