Recall, the draft amendments to the Civil Protection and Disaster Act prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration stipulate that an ambulance would be stationed at each fire station. The Ombudsman's Expert Committee on Health pointed out that this is a completely different approach to organizing aid and providing services than the current emergency medical services. In the committee's view, this would mean the de facto return of emergency medicine to the provision of first aid. Instead, such an organization of a duplicated emergency system could endanger the lives and health of citizens.
"Members of the Expert Committee also noted that for several years, paramedics from PSP and TSO should administer medical products. However, the Health Minister's regulation on emergency medical activities and health services other than emergency medical activities that can be provided by a paramedic is not being implemented, due to the lack of agreement between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration on the supply of medicines to these entities," reads the RPO's comments on the program.
The Health Ministry announced at the end of March that it takes the position that the medical emergency system in Poland should continue to be based on medical entities, which are the dispatchers of the PRM system's units, i.e. medical emergency teams, including air teams and hospital emergency departments.
"Units of the State Fire Service and Volunteer Fire Service are not established to provide health services. Their task is, among other things, to provide qualified first aid as part of units cooperating with the State Emergency Medical Service system. Such a model has been in place for more than 15 years and seems to fully meet the health needs of citizens in taking action in emergencies," reads the response signed by Deputy Health Minister Maciej Miłkowski.
In turn, at the end of June, Deputy Interior and Administration Minister Maciej Wąsik addressed the Ombudsman's comments.
"The draft law on civil protection and the state of calamity does not provide for the creation in the State Fire Service (SFS) of an alternative or competing system to the PRM in the field of medical rescue. The proposed solutions are aimed at supplementing and strengthening the PRM system allowing uninterrupted execution of tasks in emergency situations (state of emergency, crisis situation, armed conflict) and in conditions where it may be difficult or impossible (areas difficult to access, e.g., mountainous areas, muddy ground, etc.)," the response reads.
As Maciej Wąsik explains, the entities of the national rescue and firefighting system cooperate with the PRM system, providing a complement to the availability of teams in the absence of PRM resources. This cooperation does not take into account states of emergency, in which, in particular, KSRG entities should have the capacity to maximize their use in providing assistance in life-threatening emergencies.
"On the basis of the proposed regulations, an important support for the PRM is to be the assistance in the execution of medical transport tasks by the PSP and the Volunteer Fire Service (TSO), which will ultimately have the relevant potential (ambulances). The draft law on civil protection and the state of calamity also envisages upgrading rescue qualifications, with the aim of increasing rescue capacity, thus the powers of rescuers," the deputy interior ministry added.
