Partners & Associations

Northern Helicopter GmbH works closely with Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. The offshore rescue department of the Stedingen local association provides the emergency medical personnel for the offshore rescue helicopters of NHC Northern Helicopter. Since 2014, they have been the market leader in providing emergency medical care for personnel at offshore wind farms, some of which are more than 100 km from the mainland, on their structures and on accompanying vessels in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. They specialize in rescues from confined spaces, heights and depths as well as intensive medical care for injured persons beyond the regular known rescue service care times. To this effect, the emergency medical personnel practice regularly and are well prepared for their tasks with over a hundred hours of training and hoist-cycles per year.

WINDEAcare is a product for the provision of medical services for the offshore wind industry. Customized services such as air rescue/HEMS, the provision of emergency paramedics, training for first aiders offshore and the area of material concepts are available to customers either bundled or individually. Partners include Northern Helicopter GmbH, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. with its offshore rescue department, and WINDEA Offshore GmbH & Co.KG, which provides the sales platform for the services.

WINDEA Offshore GmbH & Co. KG is a joint venture for the offshore wind industry founded in 2011 and consisting of the partners Bernhard Schulte Offshore GmbH, Buss Offshore Solutions GmbH & Co. KG and Ems Maritime Offshore GmbH. Based in Hamburg, WINDEA acts as a joint sales and synergy center for offshore wind projects. The company offers its customers a comprehensive range of services from a single source in connection with the construction and operation of offshore wind farms.

The German offshore wind farms are located in the SAR (Search and Rescue) area of the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger (DGzRS = German Maritime Search and Rescue Service). As these are fixed structures at sea, emergency situations there do not fall under the primary statutory tasks of the sea rescuers. Nevertheless, in order to be able to offer its expertise, its decades of competence and its technical facilities for communication and coordination, the non-profit DGzRS has founded the independent Gesellschaft für maritimes Notfallmanagement mbH (GMN). All emergency measures on offshore wind farms are coordinated by means of the resources of the operators (usually helicopters) via the Notfall Leitstelle Offshore-Windparks (NOW). It is a spatial component of the rescue control center sea of the DGzRS and is staffed around the clock with emergency paramedics of the Johanniter. The GMN is financed by the wind farm operators.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger (DGzRS = German Maritime Search and Rescue Service) is responsible for the search and rescue service in our areas of the North Sea and Baltic Sea (SAR service, SAR = Search and Rescue). Around 1,000 sea rescuers, including more than 800 volunteers, are deployed with 60 rescue units at 55 stations between Borkum and Ueckermünde approximately 2,000 times a year – around the clock, in all weather conditions. All SAR measures are coordinated by the German Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) Bremen, which is operated by DGzRS. Since its foundation in 1865, the DGzRS has rescued more than 86,000 people from distress or danger at sea. All work has always been financed exclusively by voluntary contributions. The patron of the sea rescuers is the Federal President.

Northern Helicopter GmbH is supported by SAFEROPE in the area of offshore special rescue, here in particular in the area of Special Rescue from Heights and Depths (SRHT). Based on many years of operational experience, SAFEROPE develops and implements innovative integrated emergency and rescue concepts for medical-technical rescue in the entire field of offshore wind energy and is responsible for the education, training and regular advanced training of NHC emergency physicians and paramedics in Special Rescue from Heights and Depths (SRHT).

Research and science form the basis for new findings and their application in practice. The Scientific Workgroup (Wissenschaftlicher Arbeitskreis, WAK) of the DRF Luftrettung carries out interdisciplinary research projects together with other research institutions, universities and scientists with the aim of improving emergency medical care for our patients. Medical, technical, epidemiological and mission tactical are particularly in focus. All research projects pursue the goal of promptly incorporating knowledge gained into everyday practice. The WAK also offers a platform for the exchanging of knowledge and ideas amongst its members and with other scientific institutions. Northern Helicopter GmbH is permanently represented in the Scientific Workgroup of the DRF Luftrettung by its Medical Director Dr. Rüdiger Franz.