a glaring lack of preparedness for crisis situations.. According to Heyo Kroemer, CEO of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the incident is not an isolated incident but symptomatic of a systemic failure to prioritize “health security.
Kroemer’s assessment, delivered in an interview with “Welt” highlights a significant divergence from practices implemented in nations like Scandinavia, Israel and the United States. These countries have established, proactive health security strategies, involving thorough planning, regular drills and robust structural frameworks within their healthcare infrastructure. Germany, he argues, demonstrably lacks such a comprehensive approach.
The deficiency extends beyond simply having contingency plans; it encompasses a critical failure to resource and cultivate the capabilities necessary to sustain the healthcare system during periods of significant external disruption. While Germany excels in certain aspects of medical research and patient care, the absence of a national health security strategy leaves it dangerously exposed.
Kroemer emphasized the essential role of public awareness and the preparedness of medical personnel. A truly resilient health system, he argues, depends not only on the capacity of hospitals but also on a well-informed populace and a workforce capable of maintaining operations under duress. This requires ensuring staffing availability and equipping healthcare professionals with the training and support necessary to function effectively during emergencies, even when confronted with widespread casualties.
Beyond resource allocation, Kroemer stressed the need for proactive planning and recurring simulations. He advocates for treating potential large-scale disasters as anticipated events, establishing clear lines of responsibility and regularly practicing response protocols. The current reactive approach, he cautions, risks catastrophic failure, particularly when personnel are forced to improvise responses in critical, high-pressure situations without prior experience. He underscored that just as other countries assign specific roles and responsibilities to hospitals during crises and conduct regular exercises to ensure their readiness, Germany must adopt a similar, proactive model to safeguard its healthcare system and the well-being of its citizens. The Berlin power outages, he suggests, serve as a compelling and urgent wake-up call for a nation that has, until now, underestimated the importance of health security.