Rescue service in danger: Spielstrasse brakes helpers in Fulda!

Rescue service in danger: Spielstrasse brakes helpers in Fulda!

A storm of indignation brews itself together in Fulda - all because of a darn game regulation that brings the DRK's rescue workers into the bredouille! For half a year, the St. Laurentius-Straße has been a play street, a decision that may enjoy the residents, but the German Red Cross loudly drives the barricades. "Catastrophe" - this is how it is in large letters on your expressions!

Why is that important? Because there are life at stake here! In play streets, vehicles are only allowed to drive slow six kilometers per hour. This ensures astonishment, because many believe that this does not apply to emergency vehicles. But Heinz Peter Salentin, the head of the emergency services at the DRK Fulda, has sobering news: "This is not quite right!" In the event of an emergency, ambulances may drive faster, but only in a "reasonable manner". But where does this "adequacy" begin and end? A puzzle that went wrong before many judges!

trouble about rules and speed limits

There is a rule in Bavaria: 20 percent speeding is considered acceptable here! A luxury that our Baden-Württemberg neighbors enjoy, but the whole thing becomes more complicated in Hesse. "There were also judgments that tested higher speeds in play streets, but there will be the best of all worlds with modest twelve kilometers per hour," warns Salentin. And exactly when it comes to every second, that can mean the difference between life and death.

and just the moment when Salentin explains this, it is already crashing in Rönshausen: An accident on the railway tracks - the DRK ambulances are ready. Swing through the street with flashing lights and Martinshorn is a wire rope act with these speed limits! It's just a shame that you are only allowed to push the accelerator pedal through the sign that announces the end of the playground. "You don't have to understand that," Salentin murmurs annoyed words that the safety of her vehicles is eroded.

interventions in the rescue work

Local politics in Fulda is already an active part of this drama. Parts of the CWE city association have examined the situation on site and are alerted: "The changeover of the street into a play street is extremely deteriorating," it says. Especially in critical cases such as cardiovascular homes, every second counts-and the CWE calls for the play street regulation in a hurry!

The city does not want to stop with the changes: "A new connection to Sickelser Strasse was established for the DRK," said the magistrate press spokesman. Salentin, on the other hand, points out that the new situation requires the route through the play street for all DRK vehicles. In the coming days, the residents will only know too well to know the new parking spaces that make it more difficult for the ambulances to get and out!

"We need a better recognizability of the exit", Salentin demands and reveals the grievance. A simple red and white shield is not enough, that has to be bluntly noticeable. "In today's world, it is no longer acceptable that our departure remains so inconspicuous!". Here, too, the question arises: Are we ready to put life at stake, just to mark a street as a playground?

Every year the brave emergency services start from the St. Laurentius-Straße location at around 10,000 missions and, as Salentin correctly states, around 70 percent of them are time-critical. The value of seconds unfolds in all its drama - and we hope that the city of Fulda will finally take the voice of lifesaver seriously!