An international conference in Kaunas discusses emergency medical care and its prospects
Emergency medical care is the immediate response of doctors to acute illnesses and injuries, requiring immediate diagnosis of life-threatening conditions and resuscitation and stabilization of patients. Such competencies are most needed in hospital admissions or emergency departments. In Lithuania, emergency medical licenses have so far been issued to only 48 doctors, but steps have already been taken to increase the number of these specialists and to improve the conditions for providing emergency medical services. Lithuanian and foreign physicians will also discuss the daily challenges and perspectives of the activities of doctors of this specialization in Kaunas on May 26-27.
Emergency medicine is a new developing field of medicine in Lithuania, the first doctors in this field started working in 2018. In medical institutions that do not yet have emergency medicine doctors, these functions are performed by doctors of other professional qualifications - surgeons, traumatologists, etc. However, based on the experience of other countries, Lithuania also aims to provide services in emergency departments by emergency medical specialists specially trained for this work, who are able to independently provide a wide range of necessary medical assistance to patients.
"In preparing the model for the transformation of personal health care institutions, we aim to ensure timely and high-quality emergency medical services for all Lithuanian residents and to create safe working conditions and opportunities to realize their modern skills for health care professionals," said Aurimas Pečkauskas, Deputy Minister of Health participating in the LitSEM202 conference.
In recent years, in cooperation with emergency medical professionals, the legal framework for the organization of emergency medical care has been developed: basic legal acts establishing requirements for emergency department staff, professional development, medical equipment, premises, quality and efficiency evaluation indicators, workload recommendations.
In order to improve the efficiency, quality and safety of emergency medical care, respond to the needs of patients and staff, and strengthen preparedness for threats, in 2021 new requirements were approved for the premises and territory of emergency medical departments. According to these requirements, it is planned to modernize the emergency medical care departments in 2022–2027 from the Economic Recovery and Resilience Building Fund and the European Union Structural Funds.
To help emergency professionals maintain and improve their competencies, it is planned to invest in their simulation training over the next five years to provide assistance in a variety of emergencies to standardize team action and treatment tactics.
In addition, it is planned to recalculate the prices of emergency medical services and improve the payment model next year.
Last updated: 30-05-2022
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