Austria can once again call itself European champion: After the song contest, now also in emergency medicine. A young team of four from the Medical University of Graz and Steiermärkische Krankenanstaltengesellschaft (KAGes) won the European EMS Championship in Stockholm on 3 June 2025 - one of the toughest competitions for preclinical emergency teams in the world.
The competition team - consisting of Bernhard Kowalski (KAGes), Anastasia Grumeth (KAGes), Jakob Laumer (Med Uni Graz) and Jacob Rockstroh (Med Uni Graz) - impressed with their medical excellence, calm demeanour and outstanding team performance under high pressure. Already in the preliminary round, two highly complex scenarios had to be mastered under enormous time pressure: the resuscitation of a 19-year-old patient with severe poisoning and the treatment of two seriously injured patients, accompanied by emotionally demanding relatives.
In addition to the team from Graz, one team each from the Netherlands and Denmark qualified for the grand final. Here, a passenger ship collided with a pier as a result of an engine room fire - numerous casualties, chaos, panic. On a stage in front of hundreds of spectators, under real-time conditions and the scrutiny of a six-member international jury, the finalists had to set priorities, act professionally and, above all, function as a unit.
Bernhard Kowalski, team leader and European champion with the Graz City Red Cross team in 2022, explains the recipe for success: "We train regularly under conditions that are as close to reality as possible. In action, every move has to be right and fit seamlessly into the team structure. Our success was based on well-coordinated teamwork, clear communication and consistent training."
The European EMS Championship is one of the most prestigious formats for pre-hospital emergency medicine in Europe. It combines medical knowledge with realistic operational simulation - and makes visible how much skill, team spirit and mental strength is behind the work of emergency services. The participating teams are made up of doctors, paramedics and carers - a multi-professional backbone of modern rescue systems. The victory of the team, which has already won several awards, is also proof of the potential that lies in specifically trained specialists when training and teamwork are carried out at the highest level.
The award ceremony took place at two highly symbolic locations: firstly at a festive gala dinner in the famous Blue Hall of Stockholm City Hall - the traditional venue for the Nobel Banquet - and then on the main stage of the EMS Congress, in front of an international audience of experts.
Rector Andrea Kurz and KAGes board members Gerhard Stark and Ulf Drabek are extremely proud of their team and, together with Karlheinz Kornhäusl, Member of the Provincial Council for Health, congratulate them on this extraordinary success.
Text reference: KAGes
