Leg fractures on the ice:

Man lay in pain for hours in the wrong hospital

The 21-year-old was not operated on in Gmünd, but hours later in Horn.(Bild: P. Huber)

Unbelievable! It took more than five hours after his accident for a patient from Lower Austria to arrive at the right hospital. The Red Cross was not allowed to transport him any further, which caused hours of delay while he was in pain. Is this the new "care" for the Waldviertel region?

Deeply shaken, people in the Waldviertel region recount what happened to a 21-year-old man at Pfententeich in the border community of Kautzen: while ice skating, the man suffered a broken tibia and fibula. The Red Cross arrived quickly and took the man to Gmünd Hospital, where, according to an internal memo from the hospital operator LGA, services have been severely cut since the turn of the year, and the health agency believes that the rescue organization took him to the wrong hospital.

Red Cross not allowed to transport patient 
According to the Red Cross, the man was told in Gmünd that he would be transferred because no doctor was available. The "Krone" newspaper tracked down the 21-year-old and spoke to him: "The hospital staff were very nice, but they only gave me strong painkillers. My leg was cooled and X-rayed. It was hanging down crookedly and hurt like hell even when I moved it. Thanks to the medication, I was just about able to bear the pain when I was resting," the young man described.

The 21-year-old was not operated on in Gmünd, but hours later in Horn. His recovery is expected to go well.(Bild: Privat z.V.g.)

An hour and a half wait, almost 200 kilometers
However, the Red Cross was no longer allowed to continue the transport to Horn Hospital because a newly concluded contract between LGA and Johanniter stipulates that all "secondary transports" (i.e., non-emergency transports between clinics) must now be handled by them. However, the injured man should have been operated on immediately in Horn because impending swelling could have complicated the surgery.

After six hours on the operating table
The Red Cross team left. The Johanniter accident assistance service, with its nearest base in Stockerau, was called. It took an hour and a half (!) for them to arrive at the suffering patient in Gmünd. The 21-year-old was then taken to Horn, where, according to his own statement, he was prepared for surgery quickly, friendly, and competently, and finally operated on after six agonizing hours.

Sense or nonsense with a lot of waiting time for the 21-year-old from the Waldviertel region. The map shows the routes taken by the patient and the Johanniter.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Privat)

Secondary transport with pain?
Critical questions to the LGA as to whether it makes sense to send the Johanniter organization 200 kilometers around the Waldviertel region, which corresponds to the route Stockerau-Gmünd-Horn, are met with resistance: The rescue organization was the best bidder. In addition, it would only take on secondary transports and no emergencies. However, hours of waiting time for patients in pain should not count here.