Swiss air rescue services kept busy over holiday season

Rega and Air Zermatt fly many missions Keystone-SDA

Switzerland's Rega air rescue service was called out 240 times at the turn of the year a around 30% more than the same period last year. Air Zermatt also recorded many missions over the festive season.

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The beautiful mountain weather once again drew many people to the slopes at the turn of the year, Rega reported. Rega crews were called out over 240 times between December 31, 2024 and January 2, 2025.

The figures reflect the weather conditions, leisure behavior and travel activities of the population and foreign tourists. They are subject to natural fluctuations. For example, the number of missions was higher on a sunny New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day than on a rather gloomy Berchtold Day.

According to the press release, Rega crews flew more than half of the missions for winter sports enthusiasts who had suffered accidents. Rega was called out second most frequently for illnesses such as strokes and cardiovascular diseases.

The missions over the turn of the year also included road accidents, evacuations and transfer flights from regional to central hospitals, the report continued.

The three Rega ambulance jets also flew sick or injured people from Spain, Finland, Egypt, Morocco and Italy back home.

Air Zermatt’s 112 helicopter rescues

Air Zermatt carried out a total of 112 helicopter rescue missions between December 24 and January 2, according to the press release. Air Zermatt’s ambulances were also very busy during this period with 51 missions.

According to the report, December 27 and 31, 2024 were particularly busy, with the helicopter rescue crews carrying out 19 missions each. The missions mainly involved injured winter sports enthusiasts and medical emergencies, according to the report.

A look at the figures for the whole of 2024 shows that it was not just the holidays that were intensive. Air Zermatt helicopters were called out on almost 2,100 missions last year, which is almost the same as the previous year. The ambulances were also deployed just as frequently as in the previous year, with over 1,100 missions.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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