Simon Hegele Mobile Imaging and Siemens Healthineers for Best Patient Care in Action at Oktoberfest

Once a year, Munich's Theresienwiese is transformed into a big city within a big city - with peak numbers of around 400,000 visitors on just one day of the Wiesn. And in a big city, accidents happen every day, people get injured or show symptoms of illness. This is no different at the world's largest folk festival, the Wiesn. To ensure that patients can be examined in the best and fastest possible way if the worst comes to the worst, our mobile CT trailer was in use on all 16 days at the Oktoberfest 2022.

Quick help for patients

"A mobile computer tomograph at a folk festival is probably unique in the world," says Martin Stumpferl, deputy operations manager at Aicher Ambulanz Union. This is otherwise only known from racing events with a high risk potential, for example. But Stumpferl explains why a CT is also helpful at other major events: "Injuries occur or symptoms of illness show up not only at racing events, but also at the Oktoberfest. This cannot only be explained by the consumption of beer. Be it a fall or a stroke: such things happen in a city every day. And therefore also at the Oktoberfest. Due to the spatial narrowness of the area, the potential for danger and conflict are higher than in a comparable city. Injuries are the result." It is precisely in such cases that fast help is needed for the best possible patient care - through an examination with a mobile computer tomograph.

Relieving the burden on inpatient healthcare facilities

"With a mobile solution, we have the added advantage of relieving the strain on hospitals, which have been under strain anyway since the Covid 19 pandemic, as well as ambulances, by screening patients directly on the grounds of Oktoberfest," Stumpferl said. Because not every patient had to go directly to the hospital through the mobile examination.

In total, more than 200 people were examined in the CT trailer in the medical area during the Wiesn period. "Even though the occasion is of course not a nice one, we are still very pleased that together with Siemens Healthineers we were able to help so many people with our solution and thus make a contribution to healthcare," sums up Mike Winter, Managing Director of Simon Hegele Mobile Imaging GmbH, which was founded specifically for this solution.

Teamwork for the fastest possible implementation

All those involved in the project - from Siemens Healthineers to Simon Hegele and Aicher Ambulanz Union - are equally positive about the rapid implementation of the project. In just ten days after approval by the Upper Bavarian government, the parties involved organized the provision of the CT trailer on site - including delivery and commissioning of the fully equipped CT trailer. This rapid action was made possible by the perfect hand-in-hand working of all parties. Thanks to their long-standing partnership, Siemens Healthineers and Simon Hegele can look back on processes that are already well established. In addition, the authorities reacted quickly, as did, for example, an ad hoc power line relocation by the Munich public utility company. And the processes also worked well during ongoing operations. This meant that not only could as many patients as possible be examined quickly, but thanks to the cooperation with the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, they were also given the best possible diagnosis.

"This project shows once again how important functioning and well-rehearsed partnerships are in order to be able to act flexibly and in line with requirements," says Stefan Ulrich, CEO of the Simon Hegele Group.