An apparatus and a method for the transmission of data from several respirators, each having at least one interface to a relay station and a data channel to the relay station. The data channel is unidirectional from the respirator to the relay station and supports at least two redundant technologies for the data transfer. The respirator data are encrypted and transmitted to the relay station, which decrypts the data, and authentication of the respirator and/or relay station takes place. Storage of the received data takes place in the relay station, as well as assignment of respirators and/or their data to particular users. The relay station comprises a forwarding interface for transmitting encrypted data to remote stations. A remote station is authenticated before the transmission, and data or user are selectively transmitted based on the authentication, the transmission being initiated by the relay station or the remote station.