Liashko stated that an ambulance should not come just to administer an IV or measure blood pressure — in which cases it is worth calling emergency services
Kyiv • UNN
The Ministry of Health explained that an ambulance should be called only when there is a threat to life. For a critical call, the team must arrive within 10 minutes, and for an emergency call — within 20.
Minister of Health Viktor Liashko stated that emergency medical assistance is dispatched exclusively in life-threatening situations, not to measure blood pressure or administer IV drips. UNN explains in which cases it is appropriate to call an ambulance and how quickly the team must arrive at the patient’s location.
Emergency medical assistance has operated and continues to operate during air raid alerts. The issue is how we coordinate our actions with the State Emergency Service when responding to strike sites, so as to avoid repeated deployments to places where there are already casualties and where rescue workers are already clearing the rubble, in order to prevent casualties among both emergency medical workers and State Emergency Service personnel. Today, all the algorithms have already been worked out: either the same data is transmitted to both services, or an emergency medical worker is present in the dispatch room of the State Emergency Service. Once again, we appeal separately to all Ukrainians. Emergency medical assistance is called “emergency” for a reason: the dispatcher himself decides how important it is to send an emergency medical team at that particular moment. Emergency medical assistance is definitely not a service that should arrive to administer an IV or measure blood pressure
He noted that in such cases, a family doctor’s consultation is needed, while “emergency medical assistance arrives in emergency situations when there is a threat to life.”
In which cases one should expect an ambulance team
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the disaster medicine system has been operating under an increased workload. However, as before, ambulance teams are dispatched to save patients’ lives in urgent conditions, and in such cases much depends on how quickly assistance is provided.
According to Order No. 583 of the Ministry of Health, an ambulance team is dispatched at the decision of the operational dispatch service operator upon receiving information about the following patient complaints/symptoms:
- loss of consciousness or impaired consciousness;
- seizures;
- sudden respiratory distress, absence of breathing, or ineffective breathing;
- sudden chest pain;
- a sudden headache accompanied by dizziness and/or nausea;
- sudden visual impairment;
- speech impairment or weakness in the limbs that developed suddenly;
- hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic coma;
- acute pain in the abdominal cavity and/or lumbar region;
- significant external bleeding, vomiting blood, or coughing up blood;
- signs of internal bleeding (a sharp drop in blood pressure, an increasing pulse rate, pronounced general weakness and pale skin, etc.);
- complications in the course of pregnancy (premature labor, bleeding, or other complications);
- an anaphylactic reaction caused by various factors;
- snake and spider bites;
- injuries that pose a threat to life;
- accidents of any kind;
- life-threatening heatstroke or hypothermia;
- asphyxia of any kind (drowning, foreign bodies entering the airways, strangulation);
- emergencies of any kind;
- acute mental disorders (with behavior dangerous to the patient’s life and/or to people nearby);
- other conditions that threaten a person’s life and health;
- at the request of the team leader, to provide reinforcement with additional teams.
For example, a high temperature in itself is not grounds for calling an ambulance.
What patients must specify when making a call
People making the call must:
- answer all questions from the dispatcher who receives the call;
- provide the exact address of the call (district, settlement, street, building number, and, if available, apartment number, floor, entrance number, and door code). If the street name or building number is unknown, it is necessary to clarify the route to the location of the call and well-known landmarks;
- provide the patient’s surname, first name, sex, and age; if the passport details are unknown, the patient’s sex and approximate age must be given;
- describe the patient’s complaints and symptoms;
- state who is calling the team and from which telephone number;
- where possible, ensure the crew has unobstructed access to the patient and the necessary conditions to provide medical care;
- where possible, isolate animals that may complicate the provision of medical care to the patient or cause harm to the health and property of the crew members;
- report any possible threats to the life and health of the crew;
- assist in transporting the patient to the crew’s specialized ambulance;
- if the patient is transported to a healthcare facility, it is advisable to have a document certifying their identity.
In which cases does the crew not respond
The crew does not respond:
- to patients for the performance of planned prescriptions issued by a primary care physician, as well as for injections, infusion therapy, dressings, planned replacement of catheters and tubes, and other planned prescriptions and procedures;
- to patients who are under the supervision of a primary care physician due to an exacerbation of chronic diseases and whose condition does not require emergency medical care;
- to patients for the provision of dental care;
- for tick removal;
- for issuing certificates of incapacity for work, prescribing medications, and completing any certificates, including certificates concerning a person’s state of health, as well as for providing forensic medical conclusions;
- for transporting bodies to pathological-anatomical departments and forensic medical examination bureaus.
It should be noted that in the event of aggressive behavior by the patient or their relatives, in particular those who are intoxicated with alcohol, drugs, or toxic substances, are experiencing an acute mental disorder, and pose a threat to the life of the crew, medical care and transportation of the patient are carried out with police escort.
Criteria for classifying calls depending on the patient’s condition
According to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1271, there are 4 patient conditions:
- critical – accompanied by absent or ineffective breathing, signs of massive bleeding or blood loss;
- emergency – accompanied by impaired consciousness, signs of bleeding, signs of acute coronary syndrome, signs of acute stroke, or respiratory disorders;
- non-emergency – the patient requires an assessment of their state of health, but their condition is not urgent, and delaying medical care will not lead to a deterioration in their condition;
- non-specialized – the patient’s condition is not urgent and does not require medical care at the scene.
For a critical call, crews must arrive within 10 minutes, and for an emergency call, within 20 minutes. Medical teams do not respond to non-emergency or non-specialized calls. At the same time, in the case of non-emergency calls, medical personnel may be dispatched to the patient, but only if there are available crews and no access to primary medical care from a family doctor. In the case of a non-specialized call, the patient may be consulted by phone.