The ANTEM has raised concerns about the training provided to firefighting teams operating the new ambulances, questioning its adequacy in ensuring an appropriate clinical response in severe situations.
On Thursday, the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) announced the deployment of two new ambulances to enhance the response capabilities for obstetric emergencies on the south bank of the Tagus River starting today, aimed at ensuring safety and speed in assisting pregnant women throughout the summer.
According to the Portuguese Firefighters League (LBP), these new ambulances will be operated by firefighters from regional brigades and are intended to mitigate potential mobility-related impacts for the patients.
In the statement released today, ANTEM highlighted that the current training for these teams is “manifestly insufficient” for addressing complex obstetric emergencies, necessitating updates and technical enhancement.
“In practice, this represents a temporary, reactive solution that is logistically insufficient for a problem that is structural, predictable, and clinically complex,” the association remarked.
ANTEM stressed that these resources are not dedicated solely to “specialized obstetric emergencies” but are instead conventional “rescue ambulances” operated by firefighters without specialized training in obstetrics or advanced maternal-fetal care.
Furthermore, it noted that technically this approach “does not establish a genuine high-risk inter-hospital obstetric transport system,” as would be required amidst the context of rotating hospital emergency closures.
Instead, it perpetuates a model of generic response without multidisciplinary teams or differentiated protocols for the transport of pregnant women in risk situations, ANTEM emphasized.
As explained on Thursday by the LBP, these new emergency services, set to operate until September 30, will be stationed at hospitals with rotating obstetric emergency closures on the south bank, which includes the hospitals of Almada, Barreiro, and Setúbal.
Recently, the Health Minister announced that the Hospital Garcia de Orta in Almada will have its obstetrics emergency service open 24 hours a day starting in September, supported by doctors previously working privately who will join the National Health Service.
Ana Paula Martins acknowledged that the Setúbal Peninsula is the “most critical area” for gynecology and obstetrics response, admitting that it will take “some time to stabilize” the health services in this specialty within the region.
One potential solution might involve establishing regional emergency units, as outlined in the Government’s program, composed of teams shared among hospitals, prioritizing “the most critical specialties” concerning human resources, such as obstetrics and pediatrics.
According to information available this morning on the National Health Service portal, the Obstetrics and Gynecology emergency units at the hospitals of Almada (Garcia de Orta) and Setúbal will remain closed on Saturday and Sunday.
