Burgenland links emergency services with care advice

Burgenland has established a direct link between its 1450 health advice service and the Pflege- und Sozialberatung Burgenland care and social counselling service, ORF reported. The interface has been operating at the Landessicherheitszentrale, the province’s security centre, since early July.

Governor Hans Peter Doskozil of the SPÖ said the arrangement closes a gap between emergency services and care support.

If a need for care or social advice becomes apparent during a call to 1450 or a home emergency response, the emergency team or the patients themselves can report it to the security centre. The people affected are then contacted and further steps are arranged.

Markus Halwax, head of the security centre, said such needs had repeatedly emerged during health advice calls, patient transport or emergency responses. The new interface allows the need for support with daily life, care advice or social assistance to be passed directly to the counselling service.

Halwax expects five to six cases a month. The first weeks since the service began have shown a similar level of demand, he said.