"Better mountain boots with a dirndl"

Dr. Andrea Bannert has been with since 2013. The doctor of biology and medicine editor initially carried out research in microbiology and is the team's expert on the tiny things: bacteria, viruses, molecules and genes. She also works as a freelancer for Bayerischer Rundfunk and various science magazines and writes fantasy novels and children's stories.

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Drinking, swaying, lifting beer mugs - there is a lot going on at the Munich Oktoberfest. 712 patients had to receive medical care on the first day. Wiesn emergency doctor Frithjof Wagner gives a look behind the scenes of the medical station, explains in the interview how to deal with raging patients and why he likes doing voluntary work at the Oktoberfest.

Frithjof Wagner

Dr. Wagner, as a surgeon at the accident clinic in Murnau you are used to a lot. Is the Oktoberfest still a state of emergency for you?

No not at all. It's no more stressful here than in the emergency room. Working with colleagues and helpers is great fun. There is simply a special atmosphere at Oktoberfest. I've been doing this for 30 years and I'm always looking forward to it.

With so many drunks stumbling around in a confined space, the risk of accidents increases. What are the most common injuries?

Cuts - on the feet. In the evenings there are broken pieces lying around everywhere that cannot be seen in the dark. The ballerina shoes that many women wear over the Oktoberfest cannot withstand a beer mug shard. So it's best to wear mountain boots with a dirndl!

And the person who smashes the mug is probably poisoned by Oktoberfest beer ...

I think the number of beer corpses is overestimated. Every year 6.5 million people visit Oktoberfest - of which we sober up between 700 and 800. The number of alcohol poisoning is therefore in the per mille range. Those who have drunk too much can be divided into two groups: group one really wants to get a drink, group two simply underestimates the effect of the beer. These are mainly Asians, who are genetically less likely to tolerate alcohol, and people who are at the Oktoberfest for the first time.

Not everyone you take out of circulation for medical reasons will be happy about it. How do you deal with aggressive patients?

The charm offensive applies here. We have experienced sisters who tame every bull-strong guy with their disarming smile. But a patient who is really addicted - for example after a fight - we cannot treat here. He first comes to the police station next door, in a vandal-proof cell, until he has calmed down. We then make house calls there.

When the weather is nice and in the evening it gets really crowded at the Oktoberfest. How difficult is it for you to get to the patient?

That usually works pretty smoothly. Our advantage is our local knowledge. While visitors to the meadow let themselves be pushed along Wirtsbudenstrasse, we walk around the back. But we wouldn't get away with a car. We use mobile stretchers that are equipped like an ambulance, including a defibrillator and oxygen. Should the helpers get stuck with the stretcher on a crowded Saturday evening, the doctor or paramedic will go to the patient.

How do you know where you are needed?

Most of the time someone dials 112 with their mobile phone and lands in the control center in Munich. The colleagues there pass the effort on to us. And then of course there are patients who come to us themselves. So that they can find us, a white balloon with a red cross floats over the BRK paramedic station, which is illuminated at night.

Of course, not all treatments can be carried out on site. When does a patient have to go to the hospital?

We do all kinds of first aid - for example wound treatments. Simple cuts are also sewn in the BRK station. However, I would never treat a complicated tendon injury on the hand here, for example.

We also drive patients to the clinic who need more than three hours to get back on their feet. In the case of the beer corpses, these are often foreigners. Anyone who has taken stimulants in addition to alcohol should also be hospitalized.

A burning tent, a terrorist attack - you have to be prepared for such disasters as well. How would that work?

In the event of a major disaster, the operations management team first sends a sighting team and the first rescue service units. These helpers determine how many people are injured and mark them based on their injuries: red means someone needs immediate treatment; yellow patients are also seriously wounded, but with lower treatment priority. Green is reserved for slightly injured people who can still walk. The doctors then first take care of the victims categorized in red and decide who needs to be hospitalized urgently. If you have severe bleeding in your stomach, for example, there is not much you can do on the street.

In fact, the Oktoberfest is good training for a major damage event in which many injured people have to be cared for at the same time. Nowhere else can you practice this under real conditions.

Fortunately, this kind of thing happens very rarely. But how do I survive the normal Oktoberfest without an unwanted visit to your BRK paramedic station?

Before visiting the Oktoberfest, you should definitely eat something - at least if you want to drink alcohol. Two measures can be too much on an empty stomach.

And then I recommend everyone to pocket a spare twenty that you don't spend on pretzels or at the shooting gallery - as an iron reserve to get home by taxi if necessary.

As an Oktoberfest emergency doctor, you are sure to experience strange things.

Once we got the message that someone had been thrown out of the chairlift. Two stretcher teams ran up there, and an additional emergency doctor was called. On site, however, it turns out that no one has flown through the air, just a thigh prosthesis. The centrifugal force in the carousel had detached it from its owner.

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