Quality
We have been working with hospitals, ambulance services, emergency call centres, partner organisations and service providers for many years. Good cooperation requires our work to be reliable. That is why we measure it, have it externally audited and continually improve it.
Quality and safety
We are recognised as an ambulance service by the Swiss Interassociation for Rescue (IVR-IAS) and certified to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015. The IVR-IAS guidelines make the work of ambulance services comparable and provide a framework for assuring and improving quality.
The initial IVR-IAS certification took place in December 2020. Recertification began in December 2024 with a visit by the IVR-IAS experts and was completed in 2025. The recognition is valid until 31 January 2029.
Change for the better
The IVR-IAS guidelines are divided into three areas: structural, process and outcome quality. In addition to the structure (vehicles, staff qualifications, etc.), the aim is to set out work processes in binding terms and make day-to-day work measurable. The medical direction and quality management work closely together on this. ISO 9001 focuses on the continual improvement of processes and the satisfaction of our customers, ISO 14001 on environmentally friendly operating procedures.
Many improvements come directly from the team: every year, our employees submit dozens of suggestions for improvement. A working group from the team reviews them and implements the measures.
Patients are at the centre of everything we do. Our guiding principle is ‘Change for the better’.
Key figures for 2025
In 2025, we responded to 7,329 calls, slightly more than in the previous year (7,224). Ambulance calls rose by 3.6%, while calls for the emergency physician vehicle fell by 19.7%. We were busiest in January (696 calls) and December (709).
The response-time compliance rate, in other words the proportion of emergencies in which we are on the scene within the specified time, was 94% (required: 90%), and 97% in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. In the Thierstein district, it rose from 84% to 89%. On P1 calls (potentially life-threatening emergencies, travelling with blue lights and siren), our teams reached the scene after 8.7 minutes on average.
Our own target is stricter than the requirement: 90% of all P1 calls within 12 minutes instead of the 15 minutes specified by IVR-IAS.
Patient safety
We work according to the principles of Crew Resource Management (CRM), an approach from aviation. CRM focuses on human factors: communication, teamwork, decision-making and the use of all available resources. This keeps our processes safe even under time pressure and stress.
Digital locking systems secure the medication compartments of all ambulances. Rollboards on all vehicles make it easier to move patients.
CIRS / EMRIS
Wherever people work, mistakes happen. Through our Critical Incident Reporting System (CIRS), employees report near misses and critical events before they lead to harm. Every report helps to identify risks early and to avoid making the same mistake twice.
We are part of the Switzerland-wide EMRIS system, where ambulance services share their reports and findings: we learn from the experience of other organisations, and they learn from ours. This strengthens patient safety throughout Switzerland.
Find out more about EMRIS at www.emris.ch.
