Completed Projects
COMPAS – COmprehensive Multiprofessional Education for improving, distributing and implementing PAtient Safety and maintenance of workforce in the EMR
In close collaboration with healthcare professionals in various countries, the project created an educational program at the intersection of healthcare, patient safety, and innovation.
More information can be found on the official project website at www.compas-project.eu
If you would like to learn more about patient safety and resilience of healthcare workers, please watch our short video:
Objective 1:
Developing comprehensive multiprofessional education and training tools on patient safety
Objective 2:
Implementing and distributing comprehensive multiprofessional education in the EMR
Objective 3:
Maintenance of workforce and resilience
Funding volume:
Total eligible costs: € 2.159.739,67
ERDF-contribution: € 1.079.869,83
Cooperation partners:
The AIXTRA and ARS from the University hospital RWTH Aachen, as well as the Universities of Liège and Maastricht were project partners.
Aircraft assisted management of complex emergency operations (FALKE: Flugsystem-Assistierte Leitung Komplexer Einsatzlagen)
In the case of a mass casualty incident, it is the task of the emergency services to classify the injured persons into different categories. Although most of the emergency services are familiar with the screening algorithms to be used, they are often incorrectly applied in the field. Reasons for this include the distraction and psychological pressure caused by the acute situation.
In order to improve the quality of the inspection, the FALKE project aims to partially automate this process. To this end, a wide variety of sensor technologies (radar, IRT camera, RGB camera) will be installed on an unmanned flight system to record vital data and movement profiles as quickly as possible. Existing inspection algorithms are adapted to the data situation and corrected or confirmed by a tele-medically connected chief emergency doctor. The difficult task of inspection is semi-automated by a quickly generated situation overview, so that early, targeted and life-saving immediate measures can be initiated.
The Aachen professional fire brigade is involved as an associated partner.
Further information can be found here:
The project was co-funded by:
The project IKIC in public safety (International Knowledge and Information Centre), focuses on crisis and disaster management in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. It covers the fields of acute medical care, fire fighting, technical assistance, chemical, biological and nuclear incidents, and infectious disease prevention.
In cooperation with EMS, disaster prevention, and fire protection, an e-learning platform, so-called "experience worlds," and joint training courses have been established.
Its aim was to inform citizens in the region, as well as emergency services and administrative staff, in order to improve cooperation in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine.
Funding volume:
Total eligible costs: € 2.841.637,31
ERDF-contribution: € 1.420.818,64
Cooperation partners:
- Université de Liège
- Le Centre de Coopération Technique et Pédagogique
- Malteser Bildungszentrum Euregio
- Feuerwehr & Rettungsdienst Stadt Aachen
- Forschungszentrum Jülich
- Universiteit Hasselt
- RWTH Aachen University – Lehrstuhl für Informationsmanagement im Maschinenbau (IMA)/ Zentrum für Lern- und Wissensmanagement (IFU)
- Uniklinik RWTH Aachen – Klinik für Anästhesiologie
- DRK Landesverband Nordrhein e.V., Landesschule
- Veiligheidsregio Zuid-Limburg
- Maastricht University
To strategically cope with future pandemic developments, this project aims to develop concepts for the rapid, comprehensive and sustainable use of pandemic management infrastructures.
With the help of results of previous projects and with the participation of all 36 German university hospitals (NUM), as well as institutional partners (e.g. RKI), an optimization of the necessary infrastructure components is being developed.
The Aachener Institute for Rescue Management and Public Safety, as a research section and reference center of the clinical core discipline of emergency medicine, is involved in the creation and implementation of concepts, workflows and instruments in the prehospital and emergency medical context. The goal is the development of quickly applicable and practicable tools/SOPs (Standard Operation Procedures), which can be quickly retrieved and applied nationwide in the event of a pandemic.
The project was co-funded by:
The Project “preRESC“ – data based support for efficient and effective planning of resources in rescue services” is a new, innovative research project. It is funded by the Ministry of Economics, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy, State of North Rine-Westphalia within the funding programme “Digitale Modellregionen in NRW” (engl.: Digital model regions in NRW).
A central goal of this project is assurance of widespread emergency care and adherence to the legal response time within the City of Aachen. To reach this goal, challenges will be analysed, potentials will be identified, and an appropriate algorithm will be developed. This will be realised with a software prototype which will allow for validation of the current demand planning and an optimised tactical-operative planning in favour of a more efficient disposition of resources and a best possible quality of care.
The project “preRESC” is coordinated by the umlaut telehealthcare GmbH. Apart from the project partner professional fire department of Aachen, which is leading two work packages (AP1: literature analyse, extraction of evident analysis factors, AP5: Data acquisition and extraction), the umlaut solutions GmbH is also involved as a project partner.
Cooperation partners:
- umlaut telehealthcare GmbH
- umlaut solutions GmbH
- Berufsfeuerwehr Aachen
Project was co-funded by:
S2e Guideline “Telemedicine in Prehospital Emergency Care”
Over a period of five years (2020–2025), a new evidence-based guideline (S2e level) on the topic of “Telemedicine in Prehospital Emergency Care” was developed under the leadership of the German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI). The ARS assumed the role of guideline coordination in this process. The outdated S1 guideline of the same name served as the basis for this upgrade.
With the new S2e guideline, an evidence-based foundation for prehospital tele-emergency medical care has been established for the first time. The aim of the project was to address the growing demands and increasing implementation of tele-emergency physician systems in Germany, while also reflecting and incorporating the international evidence base in this field. The guideline provides practice-oriented recommendations to improve patient care, enable efficient use of personnel resources, and support the further development of emergency medical service structures.
It was developed by an interdisciplinary panel of 31 experts from 14 different professional societies and organizations, under the leadership of the German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI).
In accordance with the standards of the AWMF, a systematic literature review was conducted, followed by a structured appraisal and evaluation of the literature based on defined criteria. Recommendations were formulated and further contextualized with background texts. The guideline was completed in June 2025 and includes 21 evidence-based recommendations as well as 9 expert consensus statements.
Participating Scientific Societies and Organizations:
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anästhesiologie und Intensivmedizin e.V. (DGAI)
- Aktionsbündnis Patientensicherheit e.V. (APS)
- Bundesverband der Ärztlichen Leitungen Rettungsdienst Deutschland e.V. (BV ÄLRD)
- Bundesvereinigung der Arbeitsgemeinschaften der Notärzte Deutschlands e.V. (BAND)
- Deutscher Berufsverband Rettungsdienst e.V. (DBRD)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Innere Medizin e.V. (DGIM)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kardiologie – Herz- und Kreislaufforschung e.V. (DGK)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin e.V. (DGKJ)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurologie e.V. (DGN)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie e.V. (DGOU)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Rettungsdienst und präklinische Notfallversorgung e.V. (DGRN)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Telemedizin e.V. (DGTelemed)
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Interdisziplinäre Notfall- und Akutmedizin e.V. (DGINA)
- Deutsche Interdisziplinäre Vereinigung für Intensiv- und Notfallmedizin e.V. (DIVI)
Major incidents, such as large-scale fires or mass casualty events, repeatedly pose significant challenges for command and emergency personnel. Initially, there is often a lack of situational awareness, which delays critical decisions—such as requesting additional or specialized resources. Moreover, there is typically a shortage of personnel available to begin tasks like triage and initial medical care. VirtualDisaster addresses these issues by using advanced technologies to provide an early and comprehensive overview of the situation.
The aim of the VirtualDisaster project is to support incident command during major emergencies—such as mass casualty events, large fires, or terrorist attacks—through an innovative solution. Using state-of-the-art technology and high-performance computing, large-scale incidents can be represented in a virtual environment, enabling faster and more targeted coordination of emergency response efforts.
In scenarios such as major fires or accidents in hard-to-reach areas, drones equipped with 360-degree cameras capture real-time footage and project it into a virtual space. This allows a “tele-incident commander” to virtually explore the scene ahead of time, request additional or specialized resources as needed, and provide informed support to on-site leadership.
Additionally, an algorithm was developed that enables the drone to perform preliminary triage and assign patients to specific triage categories remotely.
Funding volume: 1.100.000 €
Cooperation partners:
- Aachen Fire Department (Professional Fire Brigade)
- TEMA Technology Marketing AG
RWTH Aachen University, including:
- Department of Anaesthesiology
- Institute of Flight System Dynamics
- Chair of Computer Science 8 – Computer Graphics and Multimedia
Associated partners:
- Malteser Emergency Service Aachen
- German Red Cross gGmbH, Aachen City Region
- MAC – Markets and City Action Group
- DBRD – German Professional Association for Emergency Medical Services
The project was co-funded by:
The emergency medical service in Germany is facing growing challenges: An ageing population, the presence of multiple comorbidities, declining levels of hospital density and the scarcity of staff have served to exacerbate the situation, a trend that has been especially marked in rural areas. In order to address these challenges, the implementation and further development of telemedicine solutions as a promising approach is underway.
In the project funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), research was conducted until the end of 2024 into the extent to which the potential of the 5G mobile communications standard can be used to integrate new devices and services into the telemedicine system. The overarching objective of the project was defined as the optimisation of pre-hospital differential diagnostics and thus also the improved allocation of clinical resources. This was addressed by a project consortium of research institutions, users and industry. The focal point of the three distinct project phases – namely, the technical, organisational planning and testing phases, in addition to the deployment phase – cantered on the integration of prehospital emergency sonography, overseen by tele-EMS physicians. A range of medical technologies were tested, including augmented reality glasses (also known as 'data glasses', which project additional information into the user's field of vision), a mobile ventilator and a specialist teleconsultation service for specific patient groups. The technical system development and the assessment of possible advantages of 5G took place in the '5G campus network' at the Bocholt site of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences and subsequently in real-world application.
Funding volume: 3.730.134 €
Cooperation partners:
- Fachhochschule Südwestfalen (FH SWF)
- L2R GmbH
- Klinikum Westmünsterland GmbH (KWML)
- Kreis Borken (BOR, Kreis Kreisentwicklung und Rettungsdienst) als Lead Partner
- Oculavis GmbH
- umlaut - Part of Accenture
- WEINMANN Emergency Medical Technology GmbH + Co. KG
- Westfälische Hochschule am Standort Bocholt (WHS)
Associated partners:
- Feuerwehr- und Rettungsdienstakademie Bocholt (FRB)
Optimizing care of patients in out-of-hospital cardiovascular arrest is a central component of the main topics and research of the Aachen Institute for Rescue Management and Public Safety (ARS). The project name reflects the goal of the project: A 5G-based comprehensive strategy to improve survival in emergency care.
In the completed project, different possibilities of using a delay-free and area-wide data transmission by the new 5G mobile radio standard for optimizing the outcome of patients in resuscitation situations were researched and their integrative use in real deployment scenarios was simulated. Starting from an automated detection of circulatory arrest and the dispatch of the emergency call, via the alerting of rescue forces and the first responders on site, the drone-supported transport of defibrillators to the scene, the connection of the first responder to the tele-emergency physician via data glasses as well as the digital rescue lane for the faster arrival of the rescue forces, up to the pre-registration in the hospital, the various components of the rescue or survival chain was optimized using the 5G infrastructure.
Funding volume: 443.394 €
Cooperation partners:
- City of Aachen
- Aachen University of Applied Sciences
- Institute for Road Research, RWTH Aachen University
- umlaut GmbH
- oculavis GmbH
- SONAH GmbH
- T-Systems GmbH
Associated partners:
- German Resuscitation Council
- Deutscher Rat für Wiederbelebung
- Emergency Medical Service County Heinsberg
- Region Aachen Zweckverband
- Aachen City Region
The project was co-funded by:
