At the end of January, Kathrin E. was skiing in the Dachstein-West ski area. An unknown man knocked her down and she broke her collarbone. The man committed a hit-and-run and has still not been found. Even during first aid, the woman from Lower Austria thought to herself: a helicopter mission without private insurance could be expensive - and she was taken down to the valley by snowmobile and cable car. A doctor examined her and established that she was fit for transport without any problems. She was then supposed to be taken to hospital in an ambulance, but none turned up. An employee of the Red Cross said that due to a lack of staff and "time constraints", transport by car was not possible, so a helicopter came after all. Kathrin E. protested, but the Red Cross man said that there would be no costs for the helicopter if she was picked up from the valley station.
His colleagues apparently saw things differently: some time later, the Austrian Red Cross Salzburg sent her an invoice for 8,027.77 euros. Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz: "That is completely unacceptable. Everyone agreed that the flight was medically unnecessary. Kathrin E. refused it several times and was only prepared to get on the helicopter when she was assured that she wouldn't have to pay anything."
Red Cross decides on helicopter missions, for which it then collects money
The Red Cross only relented after the Austrian Ombudsman Board, the Lower Austrian Chamber of Labour and the ORF "Bürgeranwalt" editorial team intervened. However, Achitz fundamentally criticises the "problematic dual function of the Red Cross in Salzburg: it is not only responsible for carrying out helicopter rescues. The state has also made the Red Cross the 'control centre' for coordinating rescue and ambulance transport. One could assume that the Red Cross is happy to send the Red Cross helicopter as a control centre in order to ensure capacity utilisation and revenue."
Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz in the ORF "Citizens' Advocate" studio