In three states – IT problems in hospitals: first operations postponed

Planned operations at Dornbirn’s city hospital had to be postponed until the problems were resolved, but emergency operations were still possible, it was said. The rescue and fire control center (RFL) in Vorarlberg had been informed that Dornbirn’s ambulance was currently unavailable, it was said.

Emergencies distributed across state hospitals
Such cases are being rehearsed, crisis management is underway and repairs are already underway, a spokesperson for the city of Dornbirn said. Operations and emergencies were distributed among Vorarlberg’s state hospitals. A spokeswoman confirmed that these were not affected.

Tyrol was also affected. There were problems at the control centre, which coordinates the operations of the various emergency services, and at the Kufstein district hospital. Manager Bernd Noggler said that many systems in the control centre had failed. However, the cooperation between the blue light partners is not affected. The Kufstein hospital initially worked in emergency mode.

Problems with patient transport
According to the control center, emergency calls would also work and alarms could be planned. The call goes over the radio: “It works well.” What does cause problems is the organization of the patient transport. This area will initially concentrate on the essentials.

At the Kufstein Hospital, the responsible parties assured that they were working on resolving the software problems. All life-support devices were not affected, but outpatient examinations could not be carried out for the time being. Patients were asked to contact the hospitals in St. Johann in Tirol and Schwaz in the event of outpatient emergencies.

In Burgenland, there were “minor problems” at the state security center, which have now been resolved. Emergency calls were not affected; according to the state media service, there were only “minimal delays” in the ambulance system. Now everything is back to normal. No problems have been reported to hospitals or the police at the request of APA.

No effects in Vienna and Lower Austria
According to an APA request from WIGEV, the clinics of the Vienna Health Association (WIGEV) were not affected by this IT disruption. However, the blue light organizations have not experienced any technical problems so far. For example, the Vienna Professional Rescue Service assured “that no one in Vienna needs to worry that the rescue service will no longer function”.

For the time being, there were no effects on the blue light organizations in Lower Austria. Upon request, no problems were found with the police or fire brigade, and the same was true for the Red Cross in the state. “We are stable, there are no failures,” says spokeswoman Sonja Kellner.

According to Philipp Gutlederer, all systems were also working for the emergency call in Lower Austria. The state health service also gave permission for the clinics. “We currently have no information that something would not work,” the company said on request. However, we are in constant communication with the individual locations.

No problems in Styria
The Styrian Blue Light organizations and the Steiermärkische Krankenanstaltengesellschaft (KAGes) also had no problems with their IT systems as of Friday afternoon. The Styrian state police said that all systems were running smoothly, as did the Red Cross: “We are working without restrictions,” spokesman Valentin Krause told the APA.

The Styrian fire brigade has not yet found any problems. The CAGs said that the product affected by the problems was not in use and that its use was not planned: “Therefore, the CAG is not affected by this problem.”