In 2022, Swiss Air-Rescue Rega came to the aid of more patients than ever before in its 70 year history: over 14,000 people in distress, at home and abroad, received professional medical assistance by air. On doing so, both Rega's 20 helicopters and its three Challenger 650 ambulance jets were in the air more frequently than ever. Its helicopter fleet comprises of eight H145s, 11 AgustaWestland Da Vincis and one EC135.

Last year, Rega's operations centre organised a total of 20,992 missions, which is 16.5 per cent more than in the previous year and corresponds to an average of 58 missions per 24 hour period. For the first time, the Rega crews transported over 14,000 patients in the course of a year. The number of patients and missions do not concur because on Rega missions several patients may be transported at the same time, or search flights may be performed without any patients at all. Furthermore, the Rega operations centre also organises missions for the mountain rescuers from the Swiss Alpine Club SAC, as well as livestock transportation on behalf of Swiss mountain farmers.

The helicopter flight coordinators at Rega's national air rescue coordination centre organise the missions carried out by the 14 Rega bases countrywide, as well as those flown by its partner organisations. Last year, they coordinated a total of 16,256 helicopter missions, which is almost 2,000 more missions than in the previous year (+13.4 per cent). With such a high volume of activity, this central coordination ensures that the nearest suitable rescue helicopter is always called out and that medical assistance reaches the casualties as quickly as possible.

There was an increase in both the rescue missions by the helicopter crews at the incident site (9,813, +16.2 per cent) and the number of transfer flights from smaller hospitals to central ones (3,057, +7.1 per cent). Generally speaking, the missions performed by Rega's helicopters are subject to natural fluctuations. The figures for 2022 reflect, among other things, the fine weather and the leisure activities of the Swiss population. According to the MeteoSchweiz weather service, 2022 was the sunniest year since records began.

Rega comes to the aid of people in distress not only in Switzerland but all over the world. It arranges for patients who have become seriously ill or injured abroad to be flown back home to Switzerland on board one of its three Challenger 650 ambulance jets or on a scheduled aircraft, accompanied by a member of its medical staff. In 2022, the Rega jets took to the air more often than ever before: Rega crews repatriated 1,045 patients on board its ambulance jets (+21.8 per cent) and 233 on scheduled aircraft (+108.0 per cent). This rise in the number of repatriations is attributable to the resumption of international travel on the part the Swiss population, which declined significantly during the coronavirus pandemic.