– You care about the patients and are worried about them, and want to help them as soon as possible, but then you don’t have the car for that. I would like to have a car that is equipped at all times, says Margit Åkre Reite. She works as a medical officer at the Skien intermunicipal emergency room. When the alarm goes off, it’s not just the ambulances that have to rush out to help. The doctors at the emergency rooms also have to go out and see patients, but it is not required that the municipalities have an ambulance. Medical officer at the Skien Intermunicipal emergency room, Margit Åkre Reite. Photo: Sindre Åkre Reite In Skien they have a municipal car that can be used, but it is not uniformed, does not have blue lights and is not equipped with medical equipment. Reite has experienced that the lack of sirens and blue lights mean that they do not arrive quickly enough. – Now the doctors use their own car. Those who do not have a certificate get a nurse with them on home visits. She believes that what is required of the municipalities is too diffuse. More than half lack a uniformed car. The Ambulance Service in Skien serves over 60,000 people in four municipalities. Reite believes ambulances and the opportunity to go more to patients’ homes will improve the health service for residents. – I think it is the future, and I think that in order for the municipalities to take that responsibility, the municipalities must have clearer guidelines. Head of health in Skien municipality, Ove Myklemyr writes in an e-mail that they have no plans to buy emergency vehicles. He thinks the car they have now is good enough. – If there is an initiative from the central side, possibly changes to the regulations, we will of course look into this and make the necessary changes, he writes further. In some places, the emergency room and the ambulance service are coordinated, so the doctor can be with the ambulance. But this is not the case everywhere. In recent years, more and more ambulances have received an ambulance. But more than half of the country’s 168 ambulances lack a uniform ambulance, according to figures from the National Competence Center for Emergency Medicine. A total of 60 per cent state that they have a car to use for emergencies. Facts about ambulance cars in Norway Photo: Heidi Gomnæs / news A total of 101 of the country’s 168 ambulances stated that they have a car to use in 2022. 79 of these stated that they have an ambulance that is uniformed with blue lights and sirens, so that it can be recognized like an ambulance. 91 per cent of emergency rooms in Health Region West state that they have an ambulance. In Helseregion Nord, only 38 percent answer that they have a car. 75 of the ambulances stated that they had an ambulance with navigation equipment. In 2009, only 19 per cent had an ambulance. This has increased to 60 per cent in 2022. The proportion that has a uniform ambulance has increased from 9 per cent to 47 per cent in the same time period. SOURCE: National Center of Competence for Emergency Medicine, NORCE Fire engine and taxi – It is important that all municipalities have preparedness to ensure that the doctor gets to the scene of an accident or to a sick visit quickly. So it will be natural that different solutions are chosen based on the local and geographical conditions, says leader Nils Kristian Klev of the Association of General Practitioners. Leader of the Association of General Practitioners, Nils Kristian Klev, says it is important that the doctors do not go out alone. Photo: Arne Sørenes / news Those who do not have a car must find other solutions. In Halden, they have an agreement with the fire service. So if the doctor has to go out to help, they are called and transport the doctor back and forth. – Private cars are still used around. Elsewhere, there may be other cars from the municipality that are used, or reused. And some probably use other transport such as taxis, says Klev. Pointing to the municipalities No one in the Ministry of Health and Care Services would be interviewed in this case. But State Secretary Ellen Rønning-Arnesen responds on a general basis in an email. – It is positive that more and more emergency services are using ambulances to meet the regulatory requirement for emergency calls. State Secretary Ellen Rønning-Arnesen in the Ministry of Health and Care. Photo: Esten Borgos / Borgos Foto AS She further writes that there are good arguments for having an ambulance, and that the municipalities must assess the need locally. – The government has notified a notice in the pre-hospital area. Emergency services will be a central part of this message and show the government’s solutions to ensure a good emergency service throughout the country. – A much better offer The Ambulance Service in Moss got a uniform ambulance car this autumn. – The ambulance is extremely important. Especially for the population in the Mosse region. With the car, they get a much better offer, says senior doctor Ole Norden. Sometimes the ambulance is the first on the scene in the event of serious incidents. Before they got the uniformed car, the doctors found it difficult to get to the acutely ill quickly enough. Chief physician Ole Norden and Cecilie Feiner Høyland outside Østfold Hospital in Sarpsborg. Photo: Caroline Bergli Tolfsen / news They could also find themselves in situations without enough medical equipment, and other emergency services could not recognize the car they were driving in. – After we got the ambulance, we feel that we can fulfill all aspects of the regulations and that we can provide the services we have to do within emergency medicine. Hello! Hello! Thanks for reading all the way down here. Did you think of anything when you read the case? Or do you have tips for what my next article should be about? Feel free to send me an email! I treat all inquiries confidentially.
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Many municipalities do not have uniformed ambulances – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
