Hanke Nobbenhuis saves lives – as a first responder on the ground and as a Samaritan who trains hundreds of people every year to take the right action in emergencies. Her path also took her to the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI: to the chemistry department and the on-site fire brigade, where she learned about taking responsibility for one another.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin’ alive” – the Bee Gees classic from the 1970s not only gets you dancing, but also helps you perform CPR. The disco hit from the John Travolta film Saturday Night Fever provides around 100 beats per minute – exactly the rhythm needed to supply the body with blood, and thus oxygen, during chest compressions. “The song helps you keep time during CPR – and its lyrics are also a perfect fit,” explains Hanke Nobbenhuis.
The Dutch-born woman leans over the training dummy with her entire body. Using the heels of both hands, she presses the plastic sternum down by up to six centimetres deep – 100 to 120 times per minute. “It’s extremely strenuous – but it can save lives in the event of cardiac arrest,” she adds, audibly gasping for breath.
Hanke Nobbenhuis is an instructor with the Samaritan Association and a first responder in the canton of Aargau – a specially trained volunteer outside the regular emergency services. Saving lives is a very real part of her job: if a call comes in to an official emergency service and she is nearby, she is alerted via an app and can respond. “I almost always keep my equipment in the car. When I get the alarm, I provide first aid – until the ambulance arrives.” Even now, she would be prepared to respond immediately to an emergency.
The fact that Hanke Nobbenhuis now wears a Samaritans’ uniform, saves lives in Aargau, Switzerland, and trains laypeople to do the same, is by no means a given. Rather, it’s thanks to chance, love – and one outspoken remark. But first things first.
Joining the fire brigade with “Dutch directness”
Our story begins in the Netherlands, in the eastern city of Enschede, where Hanke Nobbenhuis completed her studies in technical chemistry at the local university. Her boyfriend at the time was also a university graduate. On the threshold of transitioning from student life to a shared future, the couple began actively making plans.
For Hanke Nobbenhuis’s partner, this future soon became very concrete: a doctoral programme at ETH Zurich drew him to Switzerland. Initially, Hanke Nobbenhuis commuted between Enschede and Zurich – until 1990, when she finally found a job in the vicinity: as a chemist at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, in the ultrapure water chemistry group. “Our task was to monitor the water quality in nuclear power stations,” she explains.
Water in nuclear power stations fulfils a range of functions: cooling, transporting heat and protecting materials from corrosion. Corresponding stringent requirements apply to its chemical composition. “We regularly checked various parameters, such as its pH value and metal or isotope content, and we analysed the data statistically,” says Nobbenhuis. The aim was to detect any changes in plenty of time – long before they could become relevant to the operation or safety of the station.
At the same time, Hanke Nobbenhuis also began to take an interest in a completely different area of the institute: its fire brigade. “What surprised me most was that there weren’t any women there at all,” she says. “So with my typical Dutch directness, I complained loudly – and shortly afterwards I was one of them myself.”
Unlike in the Netherlands, the PSI fire brigade required its members to be thoroughly trained in first aid – so Nobbenhuis began with a first aid course. “That was my introduction to the Samaritan movement – after that, I was hooked!”
In an emergency
Around 8,000 cardiac arrests occur in Switzerland every year. The critical window for survival is only three to five minutes, after which there is a risk of irreversible brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. Time and distance can therefore decide between life and death. This makes a well-distributed network of first responders and other trained first aid providers all the more important.
In Switzerland, these are primarily laypersons. Anyone wanting to obtain a driving licence here must first become familiar with first aid and complete a first aid course: CPR, artificial respiration, recovery position, pressure bandage, traffic light triage system… it all seems familiar. And yet, people often lack practice. “At the Samaritan Association of Aargau, we offer introductory and refresher courses to keep these skills fresh,” says Nobbenhuis. The Samaritan Association of Aargau is the cantonal umbrella organisation for local Samaritan groups and coordinates training and continuing education in the canton.
Laypeople are often the first to arrive at the scene of an accident, call emergency services and administer first aid. That’s when the first responders come into play: “Currently, there are about 1,200 of us in the canton of Aargau. We take over from the laypeople and bridge the gap until the ambulance arrives.” The first responders therefore form a link between laypeople and professional help. Anyone aged 18 and over can join, provided they have training in basic life support and have completed a mandatory introductory course.
You want to help people and save lives – that’s the true Samaritan spirit.
Nobbenhuis has been a first responder since 2024. “During this time, I’ve had seven call-outs – be prepared is our motto. You want to help people and save lives – that’s the true Samaritan spirit.” But saving lives is also inevitably linked to death; not every call-out has a happy ending, and some experiences stay with you for a long time.
When asked about her longest resuscitation, Hanke Nobbenhuis pauses briefly. “That was with my father,” she says after a pause. A sudden heart attack. “My sister-in-law and I took turns performing CPR – unfortunately, it was not to be.” Such experiences are formative. And yet they are part of being a Samaritan. Nobbenhuis finds support in her family: “Above all my two daughters, both doctors. I can talk to them about things like this.”
It was the birth of her first daughter that prompted Hanke Nobbenhuis to leave PSI after three years and focus more on her family. At the same time, she used her newfound flexibility to expand her involvement with the Samaritan Association. “I had time in the evenings to fully concentrate on Samaritan work – and to diligently attend courses.”
Putting down roots
When she took the position at PSI, Hanke Nobbenhuis and her partner felt it was time to finally settle permanently in Switzerland. Their journey took them through Schaffhausen and Zurich, later to Rieden in the canton of Aargau and finally to the Fricktal region – from Mumpf to Wallbach, where they live today. “We also got married along the way,” Nobbenhuis says with a smile. Commuting became routine, the temporary arrangement became a home – and a family.
Despite many changes at the professional and personal level, one thing remained constant: Hanke Nobbenhuis’s commitment to the Samaritan movement. “As a young woman and student, I wasn’t really aware of it – I was probably more focused on myself,” she says, looking back. “With the PSI fire brigade, the first aid course and my immersion in the world of the Samaritans, it gradually became clear to me that we are not alone in society – we are responsible for one another.” An interest developed into a conviction and from that into a very personal code of ethics.
Today, Nobbenhuis is not only active as a first responder and instructor, but also holds a leadership position in the Aargau Samaritan Association. She is responsible for training and is thereby shaping the next generation of Samaritans. In addition, the Wallbach resident works as a librarian at the Möhlin municipal library – a calmer setting that suits her well, in some respects the complete opposite of emergency services. “In the Samaritan movement, you learn to remain calm in stressful situations, to get a clear picture and act,” she says. “That helps – not only in emergencies, but sometimes even in a library.”
Anyone who feels inspired to refresh their first aid skills or become part of the Samaritan movement themselves will find numerous courses offered by the Aargau Samaritan Association. “If the disco hit Stayin’ Alive isn’t your cup of tea for CPR,” Nobbenhuis says with a smile, “there are plenty of alternatives: Highway to Hell or Atemlos durch die Nacht (Breathless Through the Night) – depending on your musical taste or how dark your sense of humour is.” The main thing is that it has the right rhythm.
