Despite the crisis in the rescue service that has been looming for years, important expertise has been dispensed with. The Advisory Board for the Rescue Service last met in 2017, twice the year before.
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This emerges from a response from Interior Secretary Torsten Akmann (SPD) to a request from CDU MP Alexander J. Herrmann. Health insurance companies, the fire brigade, private operators, the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, the Medical Association, aid organizations and professional associations are all represented on the Advisory Board.
The advisory board is to advise the interior administration “on fundamental questions” about the rescue service. But it is extremely overloaded, a state of emergency was declared almost every day in 2022, and there were few ambulances.
The development has been apparent for at least two years. Nevertheless, the interior administration did not convene the advisory board. “The Senate has not taken an important opportunity to improve the situation with its eyes wide open,” said Herrmann.
Curious: After 2017, the internal administration asked every year whether the members of the advisory board had “topics of fundamental importance” to discuss. No feedback, no one saw a problem – until the situation escalated to the emergency services. “Due to public pressure, another advisory board meeting is now planned for October 2022,” said Herrmann.
