Patients in acute medical emergencies—such as a cerebral hemorrhage or infarction, injuries after an accident, or burns—are entitled to timely and appropriate care.
In the Nijmegen–Kreis Kleve border region, however, the national border forms a barrier to ensuring this care. When an acute medical emergency in the border region is too complex for a regular hospital, cooperation between the German and Dutch healthcare systems is currently arranged on an ad hoc basis. The lack of structured collaboration, combined with language barriers and differences in healthcare systems, has a direct negative impact on the quality of care and patient prognosis—literally costing lives.
In the current situation, ad hoc cross-border cooperation is sought for this category of patients when the regular system is insufficient. In 2024, this situation was reported 150 times by ambulance services in the region—meaning that patients and healthcare professionals were confronted with it every other day. Additionally, there were 20 unplanned transfers from a German emergency department to a Dutch emergency department because the patient ultimately required specialized acute care. In 2025, a rising trend in these numbers is already visible. The lack of structural cooperation not only means that patients in life-threatening situations receive lower-quality care than would be possible, but it also disrupts the entire healthcare system on both sides of the border. This directly affects the sustainable use of existing capacities and places additional pressure on healthcare providers.
The ICEC project aims to improve care for patients in acute medical emergencies. By creating a closely connected cross-border network, the quality of care and patients’ chances of survival will measurably improve, while the burden on staff and resources will demonstrably decrease. The ICEC project explores innovative ways to improve access to healthcare in the border region, enhances survival chances for patients in acute medical need, strengthens cross-border collaboration, and lays the foundation for future projects with other partners and sectors in the region.
