Air rescue

As we are designing the ADAC magazine “Deins Meins Unsers” for the Württemberg ADAC, we headed to Ulm today to visit “Christoph 22”, the ADAC’s rescue helicopter . Together, Alex, Daniela and I set off with two cameras and a recording device and tried to capture all the emotions, impressions and information of the day. The focus was primarily on the featured person, Claudia Reich, who is a sergeant major in the German Armed Forces. She herself has already been on five Bundeswehr missions abroad, including in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Niger. Back home in Germany, she works on the ambulance, in the A&E department of the Bundeswehr hospital in Ulm, or flies with the “Christoph 22”.
As a paramedic and photographer, I was able to accompany the crew on five missions in the helicopter. Here, the journey to the patient is even more exciting and faster than in an ambulance. We are about 50 m above the ground; from above we see houses, roads, people, cars – everything looks incredibly clear and distinct. We locate the supermarket – now we see an ambulance. The fire brigade has already cordoned off the supermarket car park. We turn round once more; Claudia opens the door. One last radio check, then Christian, the emergency doctor, pushes open the door at the back. We make sure there really is no one beneath the helicopter. There’s a drop of several metres beside us; down below, two firefighters are waving; the wind is blowing and it’s loud, but the helmet dampens the noise. We touch down. Just one hop, and Christian and Claudia run off with the emergency rucksack – slightly bent over – the rotor blades are still spinning. We head to the supermarket, where a patient lies unconscious on the floor; he’d previously had a seizure. I’m there during the treatment and can sometimes help a little. Once the patient has been treated, we take off again and head back to the station. Further call-outs follow throughout the day. We head to houses on the outskirts of town, or we land at the station and the volunteer fire brigade drives us to the exact location of the call-out.
The team always works with focus and calm. “Stress is for the weak,” says Mark, the pilot, with a smile. True to this motto, all three crew members are in full control, maintaining a serious calm. A friendly atmosphere, respect, clear instructions and good spirits after the call-out make the work effective and enjoyable. They don’t like to see themselves as heroes; they are all tough, down-to-earth and not arrogant.
The sun shines orange through the tail rotor – an incredibly exciting day is drawing to a close – at last I was able to combine my two professions and was probably the happiest person alive.

Laureen Seider