The firefighters' ambulances, namely those assigned to them by INEM and equipped with better equipment and specialized teams, are being used to transport patients between hospitals, at the request of the Centro Hospitalar do Algarve (CHA). The situation is not new, it started with the previous administration of the CHA, but it tends to get worse.
This was one of the questions raised by Rui André, president of the Municipality of Monchique and also of the General Assembly of the Federation of Firemen of the Algarve, during yesterday's meeting of AMAL, the Intermunicipal Community of Algarve.
The social-democratic mayor is concerned about the lack of resources of INEM in the Algarve and the aging of those that exist, even considering that this is a «great concern that should mobilize the Algarve and the Algarve».
For the mayor of Monchique, the region and some of the Fire Brigades where INEM's vehicles and services are installed “cannot look at the near future with peace of mind, when there is a shortage of human and technical resources that denote some weakness in the response which they must present to the many requests they receive».
In statements to the Sul Informação, Rui André explained that, «in most municipalities, resources are scarce and only come for a request, which is compromised every time “there is a way out”, with a possible second response being unprepared».
Furthermore, «the situation tends to worsen by the constant requests by the CHA (Hospital Center of the Algarve) to the Inter-hospital Transport Services Fire Brigades», services which have increased «lately, due to the non-existence of some specialty in one or another CHA hospital'.
Vítor Rio Alves, commander of the Fire Department of Lagoa, explained to our newspaper that hospitals, as "they are saving on everything and do not have the means themselves, ask INEM for vehicles to transport patients from one place to the other". And if a fire ambulance provides an emergency service to, for example, the hospital in Portimão, it may end up being required to transport patients later for consultations or tests in Faro. “It never takes less than three hours, and during that time, we are left without the means to respond to another emergency. Furthermore, they are using, in a service that could be done by a normal vehicle, or even a taxi, our best equipped ambulance and operated by our most renowned team», lamented Rio Alves.
The mayor of Monchique considers that “this vulnerability in terms of the emergency services response, especially where resources are scarcer, is even more harmed by the fact that the Medical Emergency Center – CODU (Orientation Center of Urgent Patients) of Faro for Lisbon, which has proved to be an obstacle to optimizing the response as it also represents a worse service to the population».
The transfer of CODU to Lisbon took place about a year ago, still under the term of the previous Government, but Rui André, in his statements to the Sul Informação, considers that «we all agree that now is a good time, before the summer, to request that this measure be rethought», so that that body «returns to work from Faro».
«If for the CODU here in Faro sometimes it was difficult to send means to a street or a place in the middle of the mountains, now the 112 call can be answered by CODU in Lisbon, Coimbra or Porto. Messines firefighters have already been sent to a place called Messines in the municipality of Alcoutim and we, in Lagoa, have already wanted to send us out for an incident in Lagoa, Azores…», said commander Rio Alves.
On the other hand, the recent delivery of INEM vehicles to two Algarvian fire brigades does not reassure the Monchique mayor. Because these are vehicles "almost ten years old and with more than 300.000 kilometres", which will in no way change the situation of lack of resources.
"The reinforcement of vehicles is important, although it is not a "renewal" of the fleet as announced by the Government, it is important that it is complemented with other measures aimed at optimizing this service in the region and the consequent tranquility of the entire the population".
Also in relation to this issue is the concern of the commander of the Voluntary Fire Brigade of Lagoa. “We should receive an ambulance from INEM in May, but I doubt it's new. For the firefighters, they send the cars already worn out, with many kilometers, made in small loops, always accelerating, with different drivers. They are already very worn cars», said Rio Alves.
If the situation would be worrying in any region, the mayor of Monchique argues that it is even more serious in the Algarve. «In a tourist region par excellence, but also a territory with its own characteristics and where accessibility is still far from being a minor problem, safety, and particularly the possible response to a medical emergency, should be a reason for reflection, that, with time, the critical period of summer in the Algarve is prepared».
Rui André considers that it is, therefore, "imperative" that those responsible for INEM in the region and in the country "change the current state of affairs, so that situations are not verified that, already happening today, could worsen in the months in that the region increases its population very exponentially», for another year in which a record number of tourists in the Algarve is expected.
At the meeting of the Intermunicipal Community, which took place yesterday at the headquarters of this entity in Faro, the mayor of Monchique asked AMAL to «take this as a fundamental issue and that this concern motivates and demands a position and change in the situation on the part of those responsible for this matter, for the benefit of the Algarve, of the Algarve, but also of all those who, on vacation or on business, travel to this region».
The president of AMAL, the socialist Jorge Botelho, pledged to raise concerns with the governing bodies.
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