In emergencies, every second counts: when Manuel Schön is alerted, he has to sprint to the car in his emergency gear as quickly as possible. As a first responder, the 23-year-old from Feldkirchner is often the first to arrive at the scene. The fire brigade’s special squad is deployed in the event of medical emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes or circulatory collapse. “The idea is that the first responder arrives faster than the emergency doctor,” says Schön. In the time before he arrives, the specially trained firefighters can already initiate the first medical measures, for example resuscitation with the help of a defibrillator, and thus provide vital assistance.
Schön has been part of the first responder group of the Feldkirch fire brigade for around a year and alternates with several comrades on call on duty. He developed an interest in medical topics during his time with the water rescue service. In his own words, Schön has never regretted the decision to complete his first responder training with the fire service, not even at Christmas time. Last year he was even on duty on the holidays. “But there wasn’t much going on there. Christmas doesn’t play a role in the medical emergencies.” The classic fire brigade operations with burning Advent wreaths or Christmas trees have also become rarer.
The fact that he has to stay sober while on duty while others are at the mulled wine stands at the Christmas markets doesn’t particularly bother him. “I don’t drink that much anyway,” he says. Of course it’s a pity every now and then when friends go out on a Friday evening and he can’t come along himself. When on duty, Schön is tied to his home so that he can be in the emergency vehicle as quickly as possible in the event of an alarm. “You sacrifice a lot of time” – and sometimes sleep. It happens, says Schön, that he comes home from an assignment in the middle of the night, goes to sleep and only a little later has to rush to help someone again. “You can also be unlucky there,” he says, laughing.
However, the 23-year-old is happy to accept the stress. “It’s not a waste of time because you can help people. It’s always a pleasure to come back from an assignment and know that you’ve done something good.”
In the series “My number” the SZ presents people every day until Christmas, in whose life a number has a special meaning – from 1 to 24 like in an advent calendar.