Completely new at the time

First emergency ambulance saved workers 50 years ago

Kurt Radler-Wöss (72) has been an emergency paramedic from the very beginning. He is still active with the Red Cross today.

(Bild: © Harald Dostal / 2024)

Kurt Radler-Wöss drove Austria's first emergency ambulance. The concept of the "emergency paramedic" was groundbreaking back then, exactly 50 years ago. Much has changed since the early days, but the 72-year-old is still active in the Red Cross.

Worker falls into elevator shaft near the Südbahnhofmarkt in Linz! Immediately after this alarm was raised, Kurt Radler-Wöss turned the ignition key and drove off in Austria's first emergency ambulance, a Mercedes Benz. That was on February 1, 1974, exactly 50 years ago.

Today, Radler-Wöss - one of the first seven emergency paramedics in Upper Austria, but no longer on the road as such - is 72 years old. "We are a mobile intensive care unit," says the Mühlviertel native, who has fond memories of successful missions: "We used to say, 'Yes, we did that again! 'Yes, we've done it again!" Of course, the 72-year-old also experienced some tragic missions, such as heart attacks on December 24 of all days or emergencies involving small children.

From zero to 24,500 missions
The idea of bringing a doctor to the patient and not the other way around was completely new 50 years ago. This emergency doctor system was gradually expanded in Upper Austria and now comprises 20 bases, two of which are helicopter take-off points. The Red Cross carries out 24,500 emergency doctor missions in this country every year; on average, it takes eleven minutes for the team to reach the patient.

The state provides the majority of the funding: "We have invested 65 million euros in the emergency doctor system over the past ten years," says Deputy Governor Christine Haberlander (ÖVP).

Reaching patients without a satnav
Much has changed since the early days. For example, 50 years ago, emergency paramedics did not have a navigation device. Radler-Wöss and his colleagues made their own road maps or simply learned routes and paths. Other things, however, have remained unchanged, with some exceptions: "The instruments are still the same, but much more modern," says the 72-year-old from Mühlviertel.