ARA-3 ceases service after 124 days of operation

On Easter Monday, emergency helicopter ARA-3 of the ARA Air Rescue at Nassfeld ceased its operations after the end of the ski season.

In its 124 days of operation at the ski area, it received 185 alerts, the majority of which involved alpine sports and leisure accidents.

ARA Managing Director, Thomas Jank said: “The deployment figures, over which we have no influence, are one thing. For us, however, the most important thing is that the operation is absolutely safe and reliable. And our crews did it perfectly again.”

Of the 185 missions, 115 were as a result of skiing accidents at Nassfeld itself. Away from the resort, ARA-3 treated 21 other alpine sports and leisure accidents. In 40 cases, emergency medical assistance was provided during various primary operations – internal and neurological emergencies, traffic accidents or household accidents. The rescue helicopter was available four times for ‘secondary’ missions – from hospital to hospital. There were five misuses.

This was ARA-3’s second season at the Austrian ski resort and a cooperation agreement has been organised, securing emergency medical care at Nassfeld in the long term.

Bergbahnen Pramollo AG CEO Christian Krisper said: “The cooperation with ARA Flugrettung works perfectly. The helicopter is not only an upgrade for our ski area, but it is also very important for the entire region. That's why we signed a cooperation agreement with ARA Flugrettung for several years a few days ago.”