Wir überwinden Grenzen

The visit focused on emergency care and topics relating to digitalization in medicine / Tour of the University Emergency Center and a new type of resuscitation device

On Thursday, May 19, 2022, Deputy Minister President and Minister of the Interior Thomas Strobl visited the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. There, he gained an impression of integrated emergency care at the University Emergency Center, networking with the region and the University Medical Center's digital strategy. He learned about the innovative CARL resuscitation system, which was developed at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, and toured the premises and processes in emergency care in regular and disaster situations. Afterwards, representatives of the University Medical Center discussed future developments in emergency care and the opportunities and challenges of digitalization in medicine with the minister.

"Digitalization is changing the world - it is also fundamentally changing the work of the emergency services. The rescue service in Baden-Württemberg is a pioneer in this area, with digital data collection starting as soon as the first bell rings. All examinations and measures carried out during the care of emergency patients are documented electronically - and no longer with pen and paper. The next step is to digitally network the emergency services with the hospitals so that the helpers at the scene of the emergency can see the current care capacities of the hospitals and take the patient directly to the appropriate hospital," says Deputy Minister President and Minister of the Interior Thomas Strobl.

"The Medical Center - University of Freiburg is taking responsibility for emergency care: on the ground, in the air - and digitally," says Prof. Dr. Frederik Wenz, Chief Medical Officer of the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. Around 50,000 patients are treated at the University Emergency Center each year, including more than 2,000 seriously injured or critically ill patients. As the only maximum care provider in the region, the Medical Center - University of Freiburg has highly qualified staff, large equipment and rooms available around the clock for emergencies and disasters. "The costs of maintaining emergency medicine are enormous. But unlike in other areas such as the fire department, these costs have not yet been adequately remunerated. We urgently need to rethink this," says Wenz.

Digitalization as the key

In a subsequent discussion with participants from various departments at the University Medical Center, issues such as digitalization in the healthcare sector were discussed in detail. "The Medical Center - University of Freiburg is one of Germany's three most digitized university hospitals. This shows that we are on the right track with our digitalization strategy and are actively shaping the digital transformation of the healthcare system for the benefit of patients. We want to continue to drive this process forward without compromising on data protection," says Wenz.

CARL saves lives

During his visit, Minister Strobl was also introduced to the CARL system, which could fundamentally change many emergency medical operations. Around 50,000 people suffer a sudden cardiac arrest in Germany every year. Just one in ten survive outside of hospital, often with severe neurological damage. After years of research and development work, doctors at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg have developed a special mobile heart-lung machine for resuscitation, which emergency doctors can use to start therapy tailored to the patient on site. In one of the first missions, a person successfully survived a cardiac arrest after around 120 minutes of resuscitation without any permanent neurological damage. Applications in other selected patients were also very promising. The Freiburg scientists call the underlying therapy concept CARL (Controlled Automated Reperfusion of the whoLe Body).

Captions:
Image 1: Minister of the Interior Thomas Strobl (right) visiting the Medical Center - University of Freiburg under the direction of Medical Director Prof. Dr. Frederik Wenz (left).
Photo 2: Interior Minister Thomas Strobl in conversation with experts from the Medical Center - University of Freiburg.
Image 3: Experts from the Medical Center - University of Freiburg present the innovative CARL system, a mobile heart-lung machine for resuscitating patients.
Image rights: Medical Center - University of Freiburg