Upper Austria hospitals launch emergency hotline after fatal case

Hospitals across Upper Austria have introduced an emergency hotline and faster image-sharing procedures after a woman died following a tear in her aorta in October 2025, ORF reports. She could not be admitted to a specialist hospital and died shortly afterwards.

The “red telephone” system has been available in all hospitals in the state since July. It allows hospital switchboards to connect callers directly to the relevant specialist, even if the doctor is already on another call. The doctor can interrupt that call and trigger an alarm at the receiving hospital, said Kostja Steiner, medical director of Rohrbach Hospital. The system clearly signals the urgency of calls and can save time, said Meinhard Lukas, managing director of Kepler University Hospital.

Hospitals can also access X-ray and CT images more quickly. The images are made available to other hospitals through the ELGA platform as soon as they are taken, allowing medical teams to discuss whether a patient would benefit from being transferred quickly, said Tilmann Königswieser, chair of the Upper Austrian Health Holding’s managing directors.

Other measures include expanding intensive care beds and introducing a helicopter that can operate at night. The helicopter has been available for several weeks. Health councillor Christine Haberlander said the measures followed cross-party decisions and were intended to improve the security of healthcare provision in Upper Austria.

Hospital operators say they will continue to improve procedures, although resources may not always be sufficient, even when capacity is available. Lukas said there could be no guarantee of care, but pledged the best possible treatment with the resources at hand.