Over the three days of the Christmas period the Swiss Air Rescue Service Rega flew more than 150 rescue missions, an average of more than 50 a day, reported SRF.
The number of air rescue flights over the 24th, 25th and 26th of December 2024 was 20% higher than over the same period in 2023.
Many of the callouts were for winter sports accidents, followed by people suffering acute medical conditions such as strokes and other cardio vascular emergencies. In addition, there were inter hospital transfer flights, where a patient is transferred from a regional hospital to a larger central hospital where they can be better treated.
In addition to rescue flights in Switzerland, numerous emergency repatriation flights of people in emergency situations abroad were conducted over the three day period. On Christmas eve, Rega ambulance jets made emergency flights from Bulgaria and Tanzania, on Christmas day emergency rescue flights brought patients from Italy and Kosovo, and on boxing day someone who was seriously sick was flown from the UAE to Switzerland on a Rega aircraft.
The overall rise in rescue flights compared to the same period in 2023 probably reflects the winter weather in Switzerland. A good dump of snow followed by sunshine drew a larger number of people to Switzerland’s mountain resorts.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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