The first Ferra festival at Völklinger Hütte in August is facing criticism over its medical staffing after conflicting accounts emerged about whether enough personnel were on site. Permanent Entertainment, which organized the event, says the medical service will be completely reorganized for the next edition.
Reporting cited by FAZEmag shows the clearest criticism came from public bodies involved with the event. The city of Völklingen said the medical setup at times reached its capacity limits, and Völklinger Hütte said the safety concept checked in advance had provided for more medical cover than was ultimately on site. Separate criticism, cited from a source in the civil protection field, described X-Sani as close to unable to act and said a higher number of patients could not have been handled.
What remains disputed is how far the on-site staffing differed from the checked plan, because the full medical concept has not been made public. According to the city, that concept called for one doctor, one emergency paramedic and four medics to be permanently present. The city did not release the full plan, citing sensitive security information.
That missing document also shapes the dispute over staffing. Event safety planner Marten Pauls said the cover cannot be judged conclusively without seeing the full concept, though the number cited by the city appeared low to him. Based on his calculation, the event would have needed at least ten medical assistants, including three rescue medics, plus a doctor with emergency qualifications and a technical operations lead. X-Sani rejected judging readiness by headcount alone and said at least eight personnel were on duty depending on the festival phase, with more on call.
Other complaints focused on how the service was set up and coordinated. According to the report, X-Sani was selected only three weeks before the festival, so no prior site inspection took place. The regional rescue and fire dispatch body said communication had run only indirectly through the fire service, and there was also criticism of the visible medical station and coordination between medical and security teams. The head of Security-Service-XXL said he had doubts about the quality of the medical service, though no emergency situation occurred and guests did not notice the problems. Permanent Entertainment said care was ensured during the festival. The city plans to review the process, and the organizer says the next Ferra edition will be newly organized on the medical side.
