Experts challenge SPÖ report on Lower Austria emergency reform

Experts have questioned the methods and conclusions of a report commissioned by the SPÖ on Lower Austria’s planned emergency physician reform, according to ORF. The party says the changes will worsen patient care, but two specialists argue that the report lacks key data and does not support that conclusion.

The reform is due to take effect in April 2027. It would reduce the number of emergency physician bases from 32 to 21, while expanding RTW-C bases to 86. The ambulance vehicles at those bases would be staffed by specially trained emergency paramedics.

The report’s author, emergency medicine specialist Matthias Fischer, argues that closing 11 bases would delay emergency physicians and directly worsen care. The report estimates that average travel time for an emergency physician would rise from 12.38 to 14.49 minutes, and says this could reduce the chance of survival in cardiac emergencies by at least 16 percent.

SPÖ state party leader Sven Hergovich said the report confirmed his view that the reform would not provide equivalent care. The party continues to oppose the restructuring, arguing that it could take years to put all accompanying measures in place.

Christof Chwojka, a former managing director of Notruf NÖ, the state’s emergency call service, said the report’s conclusion that care would deteriorate was not justified. He said an assessment should use Lower Austria’s data on the arrival times of the first rescue vehicle, bystander and telephone-assisted CPR, and first-responder deployments. Fischer acknowledged that he did not have actual response-time data, noting that his calculations showed simulated journey times rather than the time from an emergency call to arrival, including dispatch and mobilisation.

Emergency paramedic and health scientist Christoph Redelsteiner also said those data were essential to such an assessment. Notruf NÖ said Fischer had not requested them.

Chwojka disputed the report’s claim about survival, saying that immediate CPR is crucial and that the emergency call centre ensures it begins in almost all cases in Lower Austria. He also said Notruf NÖ and the state already share data through a resuscitation register, as the report recommends.

Fischer also raised concerns about paramedic training. Lower Austria’s emergency paramedics complete 980 hours of training, compared with a three-year programme in Germany. Redelsteiner said training length alone was only one measure of quality, and that experience and routine in treating patients also mattered. He added that some emergency physicians currently on duty in Lower Austria may lack practical experience with certain procedures, such as a tracheotomy.

The report focused on potential negative effects of the reform, according to the two experts.