EMERGENCY CALLS WILL BE ASSESSED BY QUESTIONNAIRES

Communication failure is the reason for the fatal case on 12th of October, in which a person died while waiting for the emergency ambulance in Sofia, Deputy Minister of Health, Vanyo Sharkov told BNT on 13th of October. He added the Ministry of Health was constantly working to improve the system of emergency but the process took time.

In order to improve the work of the emergency, a telephone questionnaire will be introduced as of 2017 on the basis of which the severity of symptoms and the urgency of the call on 112 will be assessed and whether sending an ambulance is needed. The introduction of this new measure was announced by the Minister of Health, Petar Moskov, in relation to the spontaneous protest of emergency professionals on 12th of October against the labour conditions and the sanctions imposed on them.

The questionnaires will be tested this month and electronic software will be added at a later stage.

The changes which the Ministry of Health will introduce in the emergency department will be gradual and will take time, Deputy Minister explained. The first step was to increase the wages by 20% and the next step is to purchase new technical equipment and to replace the old ambulances with new 600 by the end of 2020.