At the turn of the year there was a generation change in the rescue helicopter Christoph 18, which is stationed at the Main Clinic in Ochsenfurt (district of Würzburg). After eleven years as station manager and responsible station pilot, Christian Stangl handed over the control stick to younger hands on January 1, 2022. At the age of 60, he retired from active air rescue services due to age. With Achim Keck, who also works at the Ochsenfurt site, the station management and the position as station pilot have been taken over by a tried and tested specialist. The helicopter pilot has been flying with Christoph 18 for eleven years. As a “Franconian veteran”, the man from Tauberrettersheim knows the region and his area of operation like the back of his hand.
New appointments for medical director and chief paramedic
In the course of the past year, the medical director and the “chief paramedic” also changed. Dr. Julian Küstermann, senior physician in anesthesia and intensive care medicine, worked for five years as the medical director of the Ochsenfurt air rescue center. He played a key role in shaping the further medical development of work on board the helicopter in the context of the ADAC concept and handed over his task to his colleague Tobias Schellenberger in October.
Also new anesthetist in the rescue helicopter
With the specialist in anesthesiology, a committed and experienced emergency doctor could also be found from the ranks of the Main Clinic. After 40 years as a paramedic on the helicopter, Ernst Freier also handed over his job to a younger one. Thorsten Stadler replaced him as “coordinating helicopter emergency medical services crew member” in July. With Ernst Freier, the rescue team is leaving a “man of the first hour”, as District Administrator Thomas Eberth noted. In the past four decades, Freier had flown alongside the ADAC rescue service, DRF Luftrettung and the Federal Border Police and worked as a paramedic for the Malteser relief service.
Experienced paramedic stays on board
With Thorsten Stadler, an equally experienced successor has been secured: Stadler is an emergency paramedic at the BRK ambulance station in Giebelstadt and also does a lot of voluntary work for the local Red Cross. His altitude stability and expertise at the Ochsenfurt air rescue location is beyond question: Stadler has been flying with Christoph 18 for nine years.
For more than 40 years in the air over Lower Franconia
Since July 31, 1980 the rescue helicopter is stationed at the Main Clinic Ochsenfurt. Christoph 18 covers an area from Aschaffenburg to Nuremberg and from Bad Kissingen to Heilbronn within a radius of around 70 kilometers around Ochsenfurt. The air rescuers fly almost two thirds of their missions in the Würzburg district. The primary target clinic for the rescue helicopter is the University Clinic of Würzburg. There are also flights to the accident clinics in Aschaffenburg, Schweinfurt, Schwäbisch Hall, Nuremberg, Erlangen and Bad Mergentheim.
For several years, Christoph 18 has been the most popular rescue helicopter in Bavaria. It was no different in 2020, as evidenced by the deployment record of ADAC Air Rescue.
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