Alarming mishap

Graz man made emergency call via app: rescue did not arrive

A man from Graz tried to call for an ambulance via the app, but waited in vain.

(Bild: Christoph Hartner)

A couple in Graz tried in vain to call for help in a medical emergency via an emergency call app. Only when the couple's wife called 144 after 15 minutes of waiting did an ambulance set off. 

A cell phone app has been available in Austria for several years now, which can be used to make emergency calls. It is operated by the non-profit organization Notruf Niederösterreich GmbH, which forwards incoming emergency calls to the relevant regional control centers. One of the advantages of the app is that the exact location of the person in distress is transmitted.

15 minutes lost
In July, a man from Graz made use of the app when his airways became swollen due to an allergy and he suffered from acute shortness of breath. A telephone message said that the ambulance was on its way. The man and his wife waited in vain for 15 minutes. Then the Graz man's wife dialed the emergency number 144 and help arrived within ten minutes - fortunately in time.

Nevertheless, the victims are annoyed. "Of course I removed the app from all my family's cell phones," says the Graz man's son. 

Error during data transfer
How did this hair-raising glitch happen? According to the app operator Notruf NÖ, the alert worked and was also forwarded to the Styrian Red Cross control center. There was only a "short delay".

"In this case, there was actually an error in the data transfer. We very much regret this. After the emergency call was received via the emergency number 144, the rescue chain worked reliably as usual," says the Styrian Red Cross regional association - they are currently working on optimizing data transmission.