We organized rescue seminars and a study trip to facilitate the cooperation of cross-border ambulance services
Health + Institutional development + Knowledge sharing | 01 November 2021
CESCI launched the first Legal accessibility project already in 2016 aiming to unfold still persisting legal and administrative obstacles around Hungary. Within the project implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Justice, the experts of the association identified 39 obstacles whose elimination would enhance cross-border mobility and improve the living conditions of border citizens. One of these obstacles was the prohibition of cross-border service of ambulance cars.
In 2018, within the framework of the third Legal accessibility project, the CESCI team conducted 7 interviews with experts of the neighbouring EU Member States and organised a workshop attended by the representatives of the ambulance services of Hungary and neighbouring EU countries/provinces. The main objective was to identify those rules defining the conditions for service provision and the possibilities of cross-border rescue.
In 2019, CESCI organised the second meeting where the good practice of the Austrian-Czech borderland were presented by the representatives of the Notruf Nieder-Österreich. In order to get to know better and to popularise the system, CESCI organised a study trip to Lower Austria where the Hungarian, Slovak and Romanian participants had the opportunity to get experiences on the daily operation of the cross-border rescue system.
In 2020, CESCI planned to continue the series of workshops but the COVID-19 pandemic not only prevented the stakeholders from meeting each other but the capacities of the national/provincial rescue services were burdened by daily challenges.
However, in 2021 CESCI continued the work through organising two Slovak-Hungarian and two Austrian-Hungarian seminars and a study tour as in parallel with the improvement of the conditions of the pandemic and the preparation of the next Interreg CBC programmes, the situation is now more favourable to continue the negotiations on a solution which, similarly to the Austrian-Czech model, may enable cross-border integration of rescue services. During the workshops the intentions of the stakeholders and the potential content of a joint project are planned to be discussed.
Austrian-Hungarian ambulance seminars
On July 2, 2021, in Sopron, and on September 29, 2021, in Szombathely, CESCI organized a seminar on the conditions of border rescue. In addition to the staff of the organizing CESCI, the meetings were attended by the Burgenland Ambulance Service and the Western Transdanubia Regional Rescue Organization of the National Ambulance Service, the Notruf Niederoesterreich, the Széchenyi Program Office and the National Healthcare Service Center.
The main topics of the meetings were how to determine the content and administrative contribution to the conclusion of the agreement enabling rescue cooperation between Hungary and Austria, and to start the preparation of a project that would allow such cooperation to be implemented in the next funding period. Furthermore, through a rescue simulation, rescue service personnel from the two countries compared the protocols of the rescue processes and the tools.
Slovak-Hungarian ambulance seminars
CESCI organized the Slovak-Hungarian ambulance seminars on 18 August 2021 in Bratislava and on 13 October 2021 in Győr in order to facilitate dialogue between stakeholders. The seminar was attended by representatives of the Hungarian and Slovak ambulance services, the National Healthcare Service Center, the representative of the Notruf Niederoesterreich and the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic.
The focus of the consultations was on how to enable rescue cooperation between Hungary and Slovakia in areas where the network of the health care services justifies it, taking into account the location of hospitals, ambulance services and border crossings. The legal, administrative, financial and professional aspects of cross-border rescue were discussed by the experts present.
Ambulance study trip
On October 27, 2021, CESCI organized a study trip for employees of the Slovak and Hungarian rescue services, as well as representatives of competent authorities to St. Pölten, Lower Austria, to learn more about the Austrian-Czech cross-border rescue system.
During the trip, participants visited the dispatch center of Notruf NÖ GmbH, where they learned how to operate such system (including the software used and how to overcome language barriers) and had a professional conversation at the Rote Kreuz Niederösterreich ambulance station.
In order to share knowledge effectively, our association will continue to organize exchanges of experience and seminars so that the authorities concerned can create the necessary conditions for cross-border rescue.
Honlapunk a Külgazdasági és Külügyminisztérium támogatásával készült.
