Tragedy in the countryside

“Warnings were ignored”: 19-year-old dead

The international response time is set at 15 minutes, in the current case it was 40 minutes.(Bild: Jürgen Fuchs)

A tragic incident shakes the Styrian region of Eisenstrasse: a 19-year-old complains of nausea and collapses dead shortly afterwards. Dense fog prevents the rescue helicopter from landing - more than 40 minutes pass before the emergency doctor arrives. Once again, there is criticism of the inadequate emergency medical care in this remote region.

The death of the young man has been a source of concern and discussion for days. The 19-year-old Hungarian was sitting as a passenger in a car when he suddenly complained of nausea on the way from Altenmarkt to Admont. The driver stopped, the young man got out - and collapsed.

The rescue chain was activated immediately, but it took more than 40 minutes for the emergency medical team to arrive at the scene of the accident on the Buchauer Sattel in St. Gallen. The reason for the delay was the bad weather: although the helicopter was able to take off, it was unable to land. All help came too late for the young man, who presumably died of cardiovascular failure.

"It would have turned out differently in Graz"
"If this had happened in Graz or another metropolitan area, the patient would probably still be alive", according to local reports. Otto Marl, head of the Liezen Red Cross district station, confirms the incident: "I am not a doctor and cannot judge whether faster care would have saved the man's life. But the fact is that the rescue chain took too long. We have been warning for years that cases like this can happen, but unfortunately we have been and continue to be ignored."

In the Liezen district, which is larger than the state of Vorarlberg, there are only three emergency doctor bases - in Rottenmann, Schladming and Bad Aussee. Supply is particularly precarious in the Eisenstraße region. From 2026, the nearby emergency doctor base in Waidhofen an der Ybbs (Lower Austria) is also to be closed, which will further exacerbate the already tense situation.

"Have a serious supply problem"
The latest death has given new impetus to calls for a better emergency medical infrastructure. "Everyone is doing an excellent job, but the helicopter is too often unable to land and it takes an hour for the next emergency doctor to arrive from Rottenmann in the Wildalpen region, for example," emphasizes Marl. "We now have a serious emergency medical care problem."

15 minutes

There is no standardized European or international response time; instead, individual countries, regions and emergency services set their own targets. Across Europe, the target average is around 15 minutes.

FPÖ is held accountable
In the region, the state governor is held accountable: "The FPÖ recognized the problem years ago and pointed out the need for a dedicated emergency doctor base - now the ball is in their court." Doctors and paramedics are available.

In the Liezen district, the Red Cross is unanimous on this issue: only recently, in a committee meeting with all senior paramedics and doctors, it was decided to take urgent action. However, Marl emphasizes: "We can only make recommendations - it is up to politicians to act."