The emergencistas consider that Civil protection should coordinate all public health emergencies.

-some experts call for having more physicians in fire equipment

Barcelona, October 2011.- Civil protection should coordinate the various bodies involved in public health emergencies, which may be triggered social alarm, according to experts gathered last Thursday on the initial Actuació day in situacions not ordinàries: Accidents of multiple victims i risc, organized by the Societat Catalana de Medicina situiacions d ’ Urgències and Emergències (SocMUE), in collaboration with area scientific Menarini.

Some 300 doctors, nurses and technicians in sanitary transport discussed at the headquarters of the Academy of medical sciences i la Salut de Catalunya i Balears the best way to manage medical emergencies with multiple victims in two cases: the nuclear or chemical accident and the car accident. For Dr. Xavier Escalada, territorial Manager of system d ’ Emergències medical (SEM), the introduction of the habit of teamwork, transversal and coordinated way among the different bodies involved, is a key factor in improving the management of medical emergencies ”.

Although traffic accidents and victims have fallen in recent years, in Catalonia there are more than one million of the SEM annual calls, and of these, around one hundred could result in situations with multiple victims. They are those in which the capacity of the available health workforce is outdated for victims ”, explains Dr. Francesc Xavier Jimenez, Vice President of the Societat Catalana of medicine d ’ Urgències and Emergències (SocMUE).

Each autonomous community has its own model of action and in some emergencies coordination depends directly of the Ministry of Presidency. In other countries, even the control corresponds to the fire brigade. Is what is happening in Japan ”, says Dr. Miquel Vidal, head of the Group of medical emergencies of fire of the Generalitat.

In Canada there is a mixed model, about half of emergencies the manages fire and the other half the health authority ”. In Britain, on the other hand, the coordination exercise the national service for health (NHS), explains Dr. Miquel Vidal.

Police, firefighters and medical personnel must work together and make it do the rest when it is not the time to act. To this end, the important thing is that a single command able to activate all the services at the same time there is ”, adds Miquel Vidal.

Health personnel in the fire

This expert is needed more health workforce in the bodies of firefighters, to the rescue of patients who require further assistance at the scene of the accident ”. In his experience, must add physical preparation for access to dangerous areas, equipment and other knowledge to medical knowledge ”. Only 6 Spanish cities today have a doctor in the fire brigade, concludes Dr. Vidal.