National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) workers have launched a strike in Portugal. Their demand is for better pay and a career review. This strike has caused some delays in the services of 112 emergency lines.

LBP Facing Problems Due To Strike

The management of the League of Portuguese Firefighters (LBP) has warned that the system of emergency services is collapsing. This is due to the strike called by the workers of INEM, and it is putting a lot of pressure on the duties of firefighters. The INEM workers demand to increase in their pay and for the higher authorities to have a look at their career profile. The President of LBP, António Nunes is very concerned about this matter as he states:

I don’t know if the impact of INEM’s lack of response stems from the strike. For years, we have been telling citizens that every time they need help from the medical field, they should call 112 and they will be assisted by an urgent patient guidance center, [but] it turns out that, suddenly, this situation has collapsed for about four or five days.

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Antonio has explained that the situation has turned out to be quite serious. It is reported that many people are calling the firefighter’s line instead of the 112 emergency services. This is because no one is picking up the emergency calls from the citizens. Some people are reported to travel to the nearest fire department just to get some treatment. The citizens are always instructed to call the emergency services of 112 when in distress. Nowadays, this emergency line is not efficient.

Firefighters Step In To Help

Many people have been contacting the firefighter’s department in case of emergency during the past few days. The president of the Firefighters Association informed that firefighters must serve their people. That is why no one is being sent away from the firefighter’s department in case of an emergency. He stated:

[It is] within their principle that they are the first and last line of the entire system, served their populations and their communities as they always do and transported people to the hospital, without them being part of the system

There is no distinction between urgent and non-urgent patients at the moment. There is chaos at the firefighter’s department at the moment. They are dealing with the situation in the best manner possible. In this very instance, the firefighters themselves are unable to get into contact with the Urgent Patient Guidance Center (CODU). There is no one to inform the firefighters about which hospital they should go to. Antonio is very agitated about the overall situation because INEM has shown no guidance on how to deal with this situation. He further stated:

It is hardly acceptable that INEM does not have a plan B for a situation like this, whatever its nature. We have been complaining for a long time that when we have patients in ambulances, CODU sometimes takes more than half an hour to tell us which hospital we have to go to.

Emergency Services Affected From INEM Strike

The INEM pre-hospital care technicians had called a strike for a pay increase on Monday. This led to a halt in 44 emergency services, which were affected in the afternoon. The local health authorities have instructed people to wait a little longer while calling the emergency services. Citizens should not hang up the phone before someone picks up the call. Emergency number 112 is only reserved for emergency services or life-endangering situations. It is instructed by emergency services:

If the call is on hold, people should wait for the call to be answered by CODU professionals, instead of hanging up and calling again.

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