Can Offer Medical Services To Up To 5,000 People

The Airbus Foundation has donated a mobile rescue station to the German Red Cross for the medical treatment of refugees housed in Feldkirchen, near Straubing in the south of Bavaria. The rescue station is run by the German Red Cross (GRC) and can offer medical services for a community of up to 5,000 people. It employs two doctors, six nurses and two paramedics.

In Feldkirchen, the station will help the German Red Cross provide up to 5,000 refugees currently living in the camp with the full spectrum of medical treatment, ranging from minor injuries to a medical emergency. The mobile rescue station was created by the Airbus Defence and Space division of Airbus Group. It is a closed system and can be operated as a stand-alone system; all it requires is a drinking water supply. The main components are a rescue station container and two tents. All three items are interconnected and form one large unit. Basic medical care is provided in the rescue station container. The personnel rest area tent is equipped with beds, enabling patients or personnel to rest and stay overnight.

“The German Red Cross currently faces enormous challenges in providing care for refugees. We are therefore very thankful for the generous assistance of the Airbus Foundation,” stated Johannes Richert, Deputy Secretary-General of the German Red Cross at the handover of the rescue station. “The Red Cross is currently treating more than 140,000 refugees in more than 440 emergency shelters. In addition, the GRC association runs two facilities used as waiting rooms on behalf of the German government, each with a capacity of up to 5,000, where arriving refugees can be accommodated at short notice. With this rescue station, we can significantly improve the healthcare we provide for the refugees arriving in the Feldkirchen camp.”

A number of local initiatives have been launched by various German Airbus Group sites in support of the refugee crisis. These include donating blankets and rain capes for the refugees close to the Group’s Taufkirchen/Ottobrunn site, sorting and distributing a wide range of assistance goods to refugees in Hamburg and supporting, along with other companies, the creation of an integration centre in Munich that provides accommodation to young refugees and German students.

Today’s donation follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed three days ago by the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Elhadj As Sy, and Tom Enders, Chairman of the Airbus Foundation. In this MoU, both parties agreed to deepen their long-standing partnership. The expansion includes additional technologies, products and services from Airbus Group’s portfolio, such as satellite technologies to improve the cooperation and efficiency between the IFRC and the Airbus Foundation during a humanitarian crisis.

“Airbus Foundation doesn’t just provide well-established products for humanitarian missions such as aircraft, helicopters or this mobile rescue station,” said Andrea Debbane, Executive Director of the Airbus Foundation. “Together with the IFRC we are also evaluating emerging technologies that are critical to the humanitarian community, such as 3D printers, biometric scanners or smart sensors. We will also explore possibilities for staff exchange and training.”

(Images provided with Airbus news release. Top: [L-R] Andrea Debanne, Executive Director of the Airbus Foundation and Johannes Richert, Deputy Secretary-General of the German Red Cross. Lower image of assembled shelter)

FMI: www.airbusgroup.com/rescue-station