German Offshore Wind Sector Gets Telemedical Help

Modern telemedicine technology will facilitate medical emergencies at sea and on offshore wind turbines in future emergency care for patients in the North and Baltic Seas.

The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger; DGzRS; Die Seenotretter), the Berlin Charité University Hospital and Trauma Hospital Berlin (ukb) have established a close collaboration to carry out this project.

On December 4, the involved parties held a public presentation at the Seenotretter headquarters in Bremen.

The cooperation specifically involves subsidiaries of the DGzRS and the Charité. While the DGzRS operates an emergency control center for offshore wind farms through their company for emergency maritime management (Gesellschaft für Maritimes Notfallmanagement; GMN), the Charité’s daughter company GHC Global Health Care has developed modern telemedicine technology, which brings emergency medical help even to distant places at sea through wireless communication. This ensures round-the-clock telemedicine care by physicians at the Charité and emergency specialists from BG Trauma Hospital Berlin.

“The emergency coordination with decades of experience and expertise from Bremen combines with the renowned medical expertise from Berlin and the latest communications technology for the comprehensive solution for offshore wind farm operators. They can thus meet the mandatory requirements for operating their systems,” says GMN’s Managing Director, Captain Udo Helge Fox.

In their medium term plan, GHC, GMN, Charité, ukb and DGzRS will extend their cooperation to medical emergencies at sea. The rescue cruisers of the DGzRS are to be equipped with the appropriate technology that will also be used in “classical” cases of emergencies.

Offshore WIND Staff; Image: DGzRS