The first few minutes after an accident or an assault are often crucial for the patients, and the ones that help them have the deciding role in saving lives. The doctors and the nurses trained to provide emergency medical aid are the heroes we do not think of until we find ourselves in a crisis.
May 27th, which is celebrated as the European Emergency Medicine Day is devoted to them with the idea of paying attention to the importance of this area, but also to the fact that there are many places in the world where there is an insufficient number of emergency medicine specialists.
The importance of a fast reaction of well-trained technicians, nurses and doctors is especially emphasized during the Coronavirus pandemic.
``The emergency medicine system was a very important link and took the full blow of the first wave because, without the preparedness in the first lines of the battle, the pandemic would have spread into the health centers and hospitals, and that would have put the entire health system into a very difficult position. Owing to the knowledge and experience, the situation did not get out of control, which enabled the system to function in the best way possible``, as stated by Dr. Miljan Jović a member of the presidency of the "Serbian Society of Emergency Physicians’’ for "Danas".
The Serbian Society of Emergency Physicians was founded in 2014 and is a member of the European Society for Emergency Medicine.
It is important to remember the EU’s contribution to emergency medicine in our country, following the continual support of the European Union to the Serbian health system.
Over the last few years, the European Union has donated 252 emergency vehicles for the health systems across Serbia, out of which 122 were delivered with respirators and which have proven to be crucial in the battle against the Covid-19 virus. For this project alone, the European Union has donated EUR 8.7 million.
Since the beginning of the pandemic of the Corona virus, the European Union has financed 100 triage containers which have been placed in front of numerous medical institutes across Serbia. The acquisition and installing of these containers, whose value is EUR 590.000, are a part of EU’s aid package EUR 4.9 million worth.
The acquisition of these containers is executed by The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which has started the mechanism for emergency acquisitions on a global level, due to the pandemic.
Apart from this, the city of Novi Pazar has got a new Emergency Center as well, for which the EU has donated EUR 680.000 in 2018, apart from the previous reconstruction received from the resources of the EU. More than 120.000 people in Novi Pazar and many more in the entire region will benefit from this investment.
Let us remind ourselves that more than 200 million EUR of non-refundable aid for improving the health system of Serbia has been secured by the European Union in the last few years, while just during the Covid-19 pandemic another 93 million EUR have been allocated. More on the European solidarity shown to Serbia can be read at this link.