Emergency regulations have changed
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Friday, July 18
According to the Minister of Health, Labour and Social Affairs of Georgia, Davit Sergeenko, the emergency call procedures are changing. Sergeenko said that there were two reasons that have prevented the emergency service from working efficiently.
According to Sergeenko, one of the reasons is related to the technical aspect. “Car parking problems was one of the main issues. We have already signed a contract and by the end of the year the problem will be solved, the whole auto- park will be renewed. The second problem is pre-hospital decision-making procedures and methodologies. In many cases focuses are made on geographic location rather than patient condition,” Sergeenko stated, stressing that people call to the emergency service without any real grounds quite frequently and that also disturbs the system.
Sergeenko suggests that new regulations will come into force after the consultations are completed. The minister stressed that a new office of dispatchers will be introduced and they will decide where the emergency brigade will go.
“The brigade should firstly serve those patients who are in an urgent need of assistance,” The Minister said. He admitted that in several cases the emergency brigade might not be sent at all, if a call is less serious.
The Emergency Medical Center representatives state that the new initiatives will change the situation. According to them, the recent problems in the system cannot be solved through increasing the number of emergency medical brigades. They stress that nearly 2,000 calls come in the center daily and 70% of the calls are connected with less serious cases.
“To eliminate the problems, people must realize when they really need emergency care. There are family doctors and ordinary clinics, where a patient or his relative can take the patient, instead of calling in the emergency service,” the emergency staff stated.
The Emergency Medical Center has 13 branches only in Tbilisi, which are distributed through a territorial principle and covers the whole city.
The member of the opposition United National Movement Gigi Tsereteli is skeptical over the innovation. He doubts the dispatchers will make adequate solutions in terms of distributing brigades.
