The closure of obstetrics and gynecology emergency services continues to generate “extreme” cases, which not only put pregnant women and families “in uncomfortable situations,” but also firefighters, as highlighted by the president of the Firefighters League, António Nunes, this Monday.
Just this weekend, at least two more cases were recorded that show, as the official emphasized, “the Ministry of Health is not being able to solve the problem” of the “chaos” that is currently affecting the National Health Service (SNS).
One of the cases involves a pregnant woman who gave birth in an ambulance of the Benavente Volunteer Firefighters, in the district of Santarém, on highway 10 (A10). According to the fire department, little Catarina was born “in the middle of the A10 roundabout,” which connects National Road 118 to the highway. Otherwise, the woman would have had to travel “120 km to the Abrantes maternity ward,” since “Santarém [is] overcrowded, Vila Franca de Xira closed, and Beatriz Ângelo in Loures also closed.” Fortunately, the “hour was small, and everything went for the best.”
The second case was that of a 34-week pregnant woman with hemorrhaging who had to travel 60 km (and 50 minutes) from Moita to Cascais Hospital to be treated.
“All of these are cases that should not occur. Now they prefer pregnant women to give birth in an ambulance instead of in a hospital,” said António Nunes, adding that although ambulances and personnel are “prepared for this purpose,” the environment is not the most suitable.
“It would be much better and have much less risk if deliveries took place in general emergency rooms rather than in an ambulance parked on a highway,” explained the president of the Firefighters League.
For António Nunes, the situation not only puts pregnant women in a delicate situation but also leaves firefighters under “great pressure.”
“They don’t pay us and ask for even more effort. We know that the Ministry of Health is new, that the SNS is new, that the Government is new, but this is an extreme situation for which firefighters cannot be held responsible,” he emphasized, reminding that while they attend to these situations with pregnant women and make transports of hundreds of kilometers to leave them at an open obstetrics emergency service, they stop “serving the community” for hours.
“We cannot conform to this situation as it is happening. The ministry has to sit down with us and see how we can be less affected. They shouldn’t want to create chaos in the area of emergency response. We have insisted on a meeting. The Ministry of Health needs to meet with us quickly,” concluded António Nunes.
It’s worth recalling that recently, the case of a woman who suffered a miscarriage and was refused assistance by the Caldas da Rainha Hospital due to the closed obstetrics emergency service came to light. Allegedly, only after the firefighters insisted that she be treated due to “acute hemorrhaging” was the woman admitted to the general emergency room of the hospital unit.
