Due to the spread of flu and other upper respiratory infections, Emergency Medical Service declares state of emergency

  • 2022-12-28
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - In order to maintain the ability to provide timely emergency medical assistance to patients in a life-critical situation, the Emergency Medical Service (NMPD) will switch to work in emergency mode from today, the Communications Department of the NMPD informed LETA.

Such a decision was made by the Emergency Management Group of the NMPD, because with the increase in the number of flu, Covid-19 and other upper respiratory diseases in the community, the number of calls received to the emergency hotline and brigade calls to non-urgent situations continues to increase.

Currently, emergency telephone dispatchers of the NMPD receive more than 2,000 calls every day, of which 300-400 are related to colds, elevated temperatures, runny noses, headaches and other symptoms of acute respiratory viral illness. This creates high risks for residents in really critical situations.

Establishing an emergency mode requires that emergency telephone dispatchers, upon receiving calls to lower priority situations, will invite residents to contact their family doctor's practice, seek help at the nearest medical institution themselves, or inform about the waiting time of the brigade up to 4 hours, with priority given for life-saving calls.

Lower priority situations are often associated with situations such as colds and respiratory viruses, chronic high blood pressure, and arm and leg injuries where a person can move and get to the nearest medical facility with the help of others.

If during the call out the ambulance team determines that the situation is not urgent and the outpatients should have received advice and assistance instead, an invoice for a paid service may also be issued.