EMS World

JAN 2018

EMS World Magazine is the most authoritative source in the world for clinical and educational material designed to improve the delivery of prehospital emergency medical care.

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16 JANUARY 2018 | EMSWORLD.com P oland's national emergency medi- cal service was founded with an enabling act passed in 2006 and last updated in 2015. This article profiles the example of the provincial emergency station in Gorzow Wielkopolski, which fields two types of rescue crews and is Poland's first fully functioning centralized medical dispatch center. Gorzow Wielkopolski is a town in western Poland, the largest in Lubuskie region, situ- ated on the River Warta about 60 km from the border with Germany. Emergency medical services operate from a provincial emergency station managed by Dr. Andrew Szmit, a spe- cialist in emergency medicine, anesthesiol- ogy, and intensive care, as well as a regional emergency medicine consultant. The region has approximately 170,000 residents. The jurisdiction has six fixed-duty ambulances; four have specialized crews with doctors, and two have basic crews (two paramedics), but all can provide ALS-level care. The legislation governing Poland's national emergency medical service determines the organization's rules, functioning, financing, and provision of education. The system's objective is to ensure that any person in an emergency will be provided with health assistance. Supervision and control are exercised by the government. The minister responsible for health oversees the system throughout the country, and the provinces (the Polish equivalent of counties) are supervised by provincial governors using a national EMS regional action plan. The Polish system for delivering emergen- cy medical care includes hospital emergency departments (known by the acronym SOR) and both emergency medical (ZRM) and air- medical (HEMS) rescue crews. Emergency crews provide triage and basic stabilizing treatment for those in emergencies, then transport them to emergency departments. The EDs also provide assistance to any person who believes their health is in dan- ger without any referral. Triage separates those who face immediate health hazards from those who do not require immediate attention. EMS crews (locally ZRM) provide services in case of prehospital emergencies. Their "S" teams include at least three persons authorized to carry out medical emergency treatment, including a physician and nurse or paramedic. The physician will be a spe- cialist in the field of emergency medicine or one who has work experience of at least 3,000 hours in the medical profession—on the SOR, ZRM, HEMS, or at a hospital emer - gency department. The nurse will hold a specialist title or specialize in the field of emergency nursing, anesthesiology and intensive care, surgery, cardiology, or pediatrics. They also complete qualifying courses in emergency nursing for anesthesiology and intensive care, surgery, cardiology, and pediatrics, and have at least three years' work experience in hospital EDs or specialty wards. The Paramedic Profession The occupation of paramedic appeared in Poland in the 1990s, replacing the profes- Medical-rescue activities carried out by Polish paramedics involve medical evaluation and determining appropriate interventions. Skills and equipment include oxygen assistance, CPR, manual defibrillation, peripheral vein cannulation, wound healing, immobilization, and more. (Photos: Robert Rajtar) A Profession In Its Infancy Editor's note: This is the first in a new bimonthly column profiling EMS systems around the globe. EMS in Poland is enjoying an expanding scope and increased independence By Robert Rajtar EMS AROUND THE WORLD

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