INEM resuscitation vehicles were out of service for more than 2,600 hours in the first five months of the year
The Emergency and Resuscitation Medical Vehicles (VMER), a specialized rescue system made up of a team of a doctor and a nurse, were stopped for 2608 hours until May this year. With an inoperability rate of 1.62% in the first five months of the year, this means that these vehicles were out of service for approximately one hour per day, according to performance indicators published by the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM)cited by newspaper “Públicoâ€.
In 2022, these vehicles had already reached the highest level of inoperability in the last nine years, an even worse record than the current one. Compared to last year, there was an increase of 423 hours without operating conditions.
The lack of operational personnel was the main reason for making 2022 one of the worst years for emergency services. A problem that continues to persist, says the Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians Union. “Currently every day we have times with more than 50 calls waiting and on another day we had 107†, says the president of the union, Rui Lázaro, in statements to “Público†.
In addition to the operational ones, the means of relief have also been expanded little in the last 20 years. The two helicopters in 2004 became six in 2014 and currently there are four. While there were 127 ambulances at reserve stations in 2004, the number reduced to 91 this year.
At the beginning of June, the president of INEM, Luís Meira, in a parliamentary hearing of the Health Commission had stated that the degradation of the aid system “is undeniable†and that If the Minister of Health fired him, he would leave his position “without any problem”. This Monday, Luís Meira resigned after disagreements with the ministry about the competition for the air transport service for patients.
