The Minister of Health is scheduled to meet today with the Union of Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians (STEPH), which had announced its participation in the general strike on Thursday due to the breach of an agreement signed with the Government and INEM, the union announced.
Speaking to Lusa, STEPH President Rui Lázaro stated that the union might reconsider its participation in the general strike if assurances are given regarding the agreement’s fulfillment, particularly if clinical protocol implementation is advanced by the year’s end.
The meeting will take place in the late afternoon at the headquarters of the Executive Directorate of the National Health Service in Porto.
Last week, STEPH decided to join the general strike planned for December 11, a decision made “unanimously” arising mainly from the breach of the August agreement with the Government and the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM).
This agreement anticipated the implementation of clinical operation protocols, which the union believes “would result in better care for citizens.”
The protocols, foreseen since 2016 and approved by the Medical Association, include the administration of certain medications in life-threatening situations for citizens.
Since August, protocols have been implemented for anaphylaxis, convulsions, and sepsis, while those for pain response and convulsions remain pending.
The protocol concerning cardiopulmonary arrest, scheduled for implementation in December, is now considered unfeasible due to a lack of progress, according to the union representative at the time.
The union leader further explained that Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians (TEPH) have been trained for all protocols covered by the agreement with the Government and INEM – “including the 150 recently hired staff” – with the only remaining step being to equip ambulances with the medications and publish the technical guidelines governing their use.
Without the ability for TEPH to apply these protocols, these actions will have to be undertaken solely by doctors or nurses within the more specialized response units.
