Mobile ultrasound for emergency medical services in Würzburg

03/10/2026

A mobile ultrasound device from the University Hospital is now available on the Bavarian Red Cross emergency vehicle in Würzburg - a step forward for emergency medical care.

Starting signal for the use of the mobile ultrasound device on the Bavarian Red Cross emergency ambulance. The purchase was made possible thanks to the support of the Universitätsbund Würzburg - on the left, its chairman Gunther Schunk. (Image: Kim Sammet / Universitätsklinikum Würzburg)

The mobile ultrasound device makes it possible to recognise life-threatening illnesses in emergency patients more quickly and precisely even before they arrive at the hospital.

Emergency physicians can use it to make initial diagnoses even in unclear situations - such as internal bleeding, heart or lung diseases - and initiate treatment. Until now, mobile ultrasound devices have not been part of the standard equipment of emergency vehicles.

Supported by the Universitätsbund

This progress was realised thanks to financial support from the Universitätsbund Würzburg, which enabled the University Hospital of Würzburg (UKW) to purchase state-of-the-art mobile ultrasound equipment with funds from the Baetz Prize.

Under the leadership of the Clinic and Polyclinic for Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Pain Therapy, the UKW has established certified training courses with the equipment. Both emergency physicians and emergency paramedics are trained in the courses.

At the same time, mobile ultrasound has been integrated into student teaching and the training of junior doctors. Several dissertation projects are already focussing on scientific issues relating to the preclinical use of ultrasound.

Pioneering role in Bavaria

The fact that one of the mobile ultrasound devices is now available on the emergency ambulance of the Bavarian Red Cross in Würzburg gives Würzburg a pioneering role in Bavaria. The modern ultrasound technology is already established and proven on the rescue helicopter of ADAC Luftrettung (Christoph 18), and now ground-based rescue vehicles in the region are also being equipped with this diagnostic technology.

"Emergency medicine has a very high priority in Würzburg. We have played a pioneering role at various levels for years," emphasises Professor Thomas Wurmb, Head of the Section for Emergency and Disaster Medicine at the Clinic of Anaesthesiology.

Clinic Director Professor Patrick Meybohm also emphasises the importance of the project: "Mobile ultrasound represents a major medical advance that we are consistently promoting in anaesthesiology, intensive care and emergency medicine."

Project managers Christian Zech, Senior Physician at the clinic, and Dr Maximilian Kippnich, Senior Physician and Deputy Chief Physician at the Würzburg branch of the Bavarian Red Cross, emphasise the close cooperation: "The successful project is based above all on years of very trusting collaboration with the Bavarian Red Cross and the local emergency paramedics."