The Civil Protection Authority will open an investigation into the ambulance task force created by the Portuguese Firefighters League (LBP) for pre-hospital care, considering the operation illegal and having been “marginally created,” the agency revealed on Sunday.
In a response sent to Lusa, the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) states that it will open an investigation, which will “take into account several factors, namely the fact that the marginally created operation is under the command of a member of the honorary staff, which is not legally permitted”.
Civil Protection considers that the reinforcement of ambulances created by the LBP “appears to violate the principles and assumptions of the integrated protection and rescue system, as well as the powers of the ANEPC”, stressing that it appears “to be a parallel system, without any legal framework”.
The ANEPC states that it learnt of this reinforcement of ambulances through social media and that it is unaware of the rationale behind its creation or its organisation.
On Friday, the LBP announced the creation, for this weekend, of a task force of four ambulances from the Ajuda, Cabo Ruivo, Camarate and Cascais fire stations for pre-hospital rescue.
According to the League, these emergency vehicles are based at the LBP headquarters to operate as additional ambulances from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a commander on duty to coordinate operations at the LBP’s Operational Situation Monitoring and Support Centre.
Civil Protection told Lusa that incidents recorded under this reinforcement cannot be activated or coordinated by the national command or the Greater Lisbon sub-regional command.
ANEPC explains that last weekend, Portugal’s National Medical Emergency Institute (INEM)’s Urgent Patient Guidance Centre (CODU) requested the collaboration of Civil Protection to reinforce the Integrated Medical Emergency System (SIEM), which was done “immediately”, but after that, “nothing else was requested”.
Civil Protection also indicates that SIEM is the responsibility of Portugal’s National Medical Emergency Institute (INEM), but in normal situations it is common for corporations and fire brigades to have ambulances available in addition to those assigned to SIEM, which can be mobilised by sub-regional commands at the request of CODU.
“This system, as far as we know from social media, concentrates ambulances in the same area of intervention (Greater Lisbon) and we do not see the added value of this measure, since the resources in question should already be available in normal situations,” says ANEPC, adding that “this measure appears to be a distortion of the system, adding nothing to its capacity”.
Civil Protection also told Lusa that it has kept the authorities “constantly informed of the entire situation.”
The reinforcement of LBP ambulances comes after three people died in recent days due to alleged delays in rescue, either because of a lack of ambulances or because they were held up due to the use of their stretchers in hospitals.