Fifty years of air rescue services in Lünen, Germany

The service, established in 1974, is currently operated by air rescue operator ADAC Luftrettung, having flown over 50,800 missions to date – including 1,011 in 2023 alone.

The hospital has hosted various iterations of the rescue helicopter Christoph 8 over the past 50 years – with services initially operated by the German Army (Bundeswehr) using a Bell UH-1D, before later being taken on by the Federal Police, formerly the Federal Border Guard, in 1978.

ADAC Luftrettung took over the service in April 2005, and currently flies an Airbus H135 from the base, with operating hours between sunrise and sunset.

To commemorate the occasion, ADAC Luftrettung and its partners will host an open day on Saturday 24 August.

“We are very proud that our anesthesiologists … have been providing the medical crew of the Christoph 8 rescue helicopter for decades,” said Clemens Galuschka, Managing Director of St Marien Hospital. “We would like to thank ADAC Luftrettung for the successful cooperation over the past few years and look forward to the future together.”

ADAC Luftrettung announced a partnership with Volocopter to acquire electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft last year.