Analysis of Air Rescue for Offshore Wind Energy: A Retrospective Analysis of Structural and Process Quality for the Years 2014 to 2017

Abstract

In order to achieve the emission targets required by the German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), the offshore wind industry has become 1 of the central building blocks of the so-called “energy turnaround.” After the first offshore wind farm (OWF), Alpha Ventus, started operation in 2010, the number of OWFs in the North Sea and Baltic Sea has grown steadily. Because of the ongoing growth of the industry, the number of workers on-site has more than quadrupled in recent years. Although the majority of OWFs are located in the exclusive economic zone up to 130 km from the mainland, the same legal provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Arbeitsschutzgesetz) apply here as on the mainland. This means that the operators of the wind farms are legally obligated to maintain a seamless rescue chain. Because of the distance to the mainland, rescue helicopters are the means of choice to ensure prompt emergency preclinical care and, if necessary, rapid evacuation. The company Northern HeliCopter GmbH, part of the DRF Luftrettung since 2019, offers as part of WINDEACare rescue helicopters stationed at 3 locations on the North Sea and Baltic Sea to its contract partners an emergency medical staffed air rescue service, which is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This article is the first to provide a detailed overview of a new field in prehospital emergency care on the high seas and, to this end, has recorded all offshore missions performed from 2014 through 2017 with evaluation of related medical and aeronautical data.