“It does not surprise us that the death of a 53-year-old man in Pombal is related to delays in the provision of emergency medical care. Similarly, we won’t be surprised if it is concluded that other deaths occurring at the same time are also related,” stated the union in a statement sent to Lusa.
The findings of an inquiry by the Health Activities General Inspectorate (IGAS) published today reveal that the death of a 53-year-old man in November 2024, during the INEM strike, could have been avoided if medical assistance had been provided promptly.
“It was concluded that the patient’s death could have been avoided if assistance had been provided promptly, allowing the victim’s evacuation via a Coronary Green Way to one of the nearest hospitals, where a coronary angioplasty could have been performed in one of the respective Hemodynamic Units,” stated IGAS in a communiqué.
This incident occurred on November 4, 2024, amid two simultaneous strikes – one by pre-hospital emergency technicians concerning overtime hours and another by public administration workers.
The inspectorate has opened several inquiries to investigate the potential connection between 12 deaths and alleged delays at the INEM’s Urgent Patient Guidance Centre (CODU).
In response to this case, STEPH highlighted that, despite being “more pronounced on the days of the strike,” such delays are part of “daily constraints with emergency medical means closed and attendance posts in the centers vacant due to a lack of pre-hospital emergency technicians.”
“Unfortunately, we fear that it will continue to happen and that similar incidents might occur during the summer, as INEM has not adopted any immediate, but structural, measures that we propose as solutions to the Government and the directive board” of the institute, warned the union.
IGAS has already closed two other inquiries, one of which was to ascertain possible delays in care provided by CODU to an 86-year-old woman residing in the Castelo de Vide municipality.
In this case, IGAS concluded that despite the hour and 19 minutes elapsed between the phone contact with the 112 line and the arrival of differentiated aid at the location, the patient’s death was due to “an extensive hemorrhagic stroke, a condition with a very poor prognosis, regardless of the time taken to commence resuscitation maneuvers.”
The other closure, already reported by Lusa on June 12, pertains to a man in cardiorespiratory arrest who died in Vila Real de Santo António, with conclusions from medical examinations indicating that the “victim’s situation was irreversible and the fatal outcome inevitable.”
