Only about one in eight full-time ambulance workers in Vienna are women, a Red Cross official has said.
Petra Schmidt, Head of Health, Operations and Social Affairs at the Red Cross, told ORF that there are just 17 women compared to 92 men in the organisation’s rescue service.
The situation is similar within the city-run Vienna Professional Rescue Service (Berufsrettung Wien), where only 12% of rescue workers are female.
“Women often take on many tasks and care responsibilities in their private lives,” said Schmidt. “They look after children and family members, which means they are often tied up with household duties.”
Schmidt also pointed out that a lack of confidence in handling the physically demanding work may contribute to the low number of women in rescue services. “It’s a job that women are equally capable of doing. I believe we need to continue encouraging women to undertake these training courses and get involved.”
However, significantly more women are engaged in voluntary work within the sector.
According to the Red Cross, out of 636 volunteers in the rescue service in Vienna, 443 are women.
Schmidt emphasised that rescue organisations are keen to increase the proportion of women, including in leadership roles. “The health and social care sectors have traditionally been female-dominated, and we are simply moving in this direction within the rescue service. That’s a positive development, and we’re encouraging it,” she added.
