The new Service of Medical Emergency has moved into a new phase after the launch of the National Emergency Centre, which will coordinate medical emergencies throughout the territory. In the new building, where 143 million ALL have been invested for the construction and the technological equipment, a digital system will be installed to receive emergencies of any kind, and responses will be given in real time through a unique phone number, free of charge. The new centralized service will replace the current decentralized emergency service, which failed to meet public demand.
“To date, the coverage of medical emergency has been organized based on the hospital or the region, and it covered mainly cities and some villages. This inherited structure could not guarantee for all cases that the call for help was received, because the emergency numbers were different, the coordination centres didn’t have any electronic system for the registration of the data, including the phone number of citizens requesting assistance, which in many cases has tuned into disaster only because it was not possible to communicate and respond to the call for help”, the Prime Minister said.
The new Emergency Service aims to achieve European standards, use efficiently the facilities and the personnel in the territory. The new digital system will be connected to a screen where the map of Albania and the location of each ambulance will appear, and ambulances will be monitored in real time. A staff of 90 specialists and a fleet of 140 ambulances will be in service every day, for 24 hours.
“The new digital system will be provided with a screen where the entire map of Albania will be shown, along with the location of every ambulance that will be monitored in real time”, Minister Beqaj explained.
“This centralization provides the service in real time to the citizen in need. A speed of 10-15 minutes is guaranteed from any point where the emergency fleet will be located, at any point where the presence of emergency will be required. We will have 140 ambulances, while the mapping in the area will enable us to respond to citizens in real time. The National Centre of Medical Emergency will be fully functional within next spring, and the whole digitized system for receiving calls without hindrance through a unique number, and for giving commands in real time, following in real time the location of all ambulances in territory, will bring a fundamental change in the relation of the government with citizens in terms of this service”, the Prime Minister noted.
The Director of the National Emergency Service, Skender Brataj said that as a result of this reorganization, vehicles are being used more efficiently, shifting from one ambulance for 43 thousand inhabitants it was before to one ambulance for 25 thousand inhabitants.
“The investment for the National Emergency amounted to 1.15 billion ALL. The number of ambulances in the area was 70. We didn’t add them, but we are using more efficiently the ambulances we already had, shifting from one ambulance for 43 thousand inhabitants to one ambulance for 25 thousand inhabitants. These are international standards of any developed western country. Patients in worsening conditions will be sent to the right hospital, with the right personnel and the right equipment. This is our goal”, Skënder Brataj noted.
