Preventive measures were taken even before the first rainfall. The road maintenance services began preparations yesterday evening and have been in action since 3 a.m. tonight. Preventive gritting on the federal, state and district roads outside the towns and villages made a decisive contribution to road safety. Twelve of the company's own winter service vehicles and eight vehicles from contractors were in constant use, with between 20 and 30 employees continuously covering the roads and ensuring that priority traffic routes such as federal highways, main traffic routes and bus routes remained passable.
"Our teams in the road maintenance depots are highly professionally organized," explained District Administrator Dietmar Allgaier. "All winter service employees are on standby throughout the winter. This means they are quickly ready for action if a hazardous situation such as black ice is imminent."
Operations by the integrated control center
At the same time, the staff at the integrated control center were very busy. Numerous emergencies were reported throughout the district, which led to MANV level 50 (mass casualty incident of 50 injured people) being declared. Rescue services, the fire department, civil protection and a specially established management group consisting of the chief emergency doctor, district fire chief, civil protection consultant and organizational head of the rescue service worked hand in hand to coordinate the large number of operations. The Bietigheim-Bissingen and Vaihingen (Enz) regions were particularly affected.
Numerous patients in the emergency rooms
District Administrator Allgaier visited Professor Dr. Oliver Hautmann, Medical Director of the RKH Klinikum Ludwigsburg, to find out about the situation in the emergency room. By 10 a.m., 80 patients were already being treated in the accident department. At the same time, there were 38 at the RKH hospital in Bietigheim-Vaihingen, with injuries ranging from bruises and fractures to polytrauma. By the afternoon (as of 1.1.2025, 13:50), there were a total of 168 patients in the Central Emergency Department in Ludwigsburg and 136 in Bietigheim.
Situation slowly easing
The situation calmed down late Wednesday morning as the precipitation subsided and a thaw is expected in the afternoon. However, the emergency services remain on increased standby so that they can react immediately if the weather situation changes.
"I would like to sincerely thank the employees of the road maintenance services, the integrated control center, the fire department, the rescue services and the hospitals," said District Administrator Allgaier. "Their efforts under these adverse conditions deserve great respect and recognition. This prevented numerous accidents." The district administrator wished the patients who were injured due to the black ice a speedy recovery.
