Swiss air rescue Rega helped 36 people daily in 2025

Rega rescued an average of 36 people a day in 2025 Keystone-SDA

The Swiss air rescue service Rega carried out a total of 20,463 missions in Switzerland and abroad last year, transporting an average of 36 patients per day.

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Compared to the five-year average, the number of missions last year was 7% higher, Rega announced on Tuesday. Compared with the previous year, helicopter missions increased by 3.7%.

Rega provided medical assistance by air to 13,168 patients last year. This figure does not correspond to the number of missions, as several people can be transported in one flight.

Added to this are the flights with mountain rescuers from the Swiss Alpine Club and livestock transports for the agricultural sector.

Bad weather

Last year, helicopter missions totalled 15,265. While more rescue missions were carried out directly at the scene of an incident (9,127 missions, +5%), there was a slight decrease in the number of transfer flights between hospitals (2,591 missions, -5.1%).

Such flights are subject to natural fluctuations and also depend on weather conditions and the leisure behaviour of the population and tourists in Switzerland.

For example, Rega was in the air less in July 2025 than in June due to rain.

Rega’s three ambulance jets flew 1,049 missions, 1.5% more than in the previous year. They brought 1,046 people with medical problems to Switzerland. The Rega Centre organised a flight home for 310 people under medical supervision on scheduled flights, a decrease of 2.8%.

Rega’s services abroad were utilised by 2,590 people. This was 1.5% more than in 2024, with the medical consultants assisting 1,234 people by telephone and repatriation being necessary in 1,348 cases.

Adapted from German by AI/mga

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