Estonia drafts new rules on when police must give first aid
Estonia is amending its Law Enforcement Act to clearly define when police officers must provide first aid before an ambulance arrives, while also letting them carry out rapid drug tests on offenders.
Estonia's Interior Ministry is preparing amendments to the Law Enforcement Act that will require police officers to provide first aid whenever a person's life is in danger and no ambulance has yet reached the scene. Until now, the law has not clearly defined how far officers may go before medical crews arrive.
Roger Kumm, head of the Police and Border Guard Board's prevention and offence proceedings bureau, said officers already have the necessary training but are not always permitted to use it. He cited cases such as stabbing victims developing a collapsed lung, where officers currently cannot use so-called invasive methods even though police medics are specifically trained for them. Kumm noted that officers already provide immediate life-saving help, such as beginning preparatory steps important for ambulance crews, but are not allowed to do things like insert an IV cannula themselves.
Examples cited include the 2020 shooting in Lihula, where the danger level prevented an ambulance from reaching the scene, and serious traffic accidents where police often arrive before medical crews.
Ain Peil, an adviser at the Interior Ministry's law enforcement and criminal proceedings department who drafted the bill, said first aid provision has never been precisely regulated in Estonia, even though the general principle requires everyone — particularly public authority employees — to give first aid within their competence. Peil said clearer legislation would make officers' jobs easier by reducing uncertainty over whether and how they may act.
The Estonian Society of Emergency Medicine Physicians supports the change but believes the law should clearly list which procedures police are permitted to perform. Board member Tanel Lepik said some of the relevant techniques are invasive and could harm a person if performed incorrectly, so such a list should be drawn up jointly by police, the ambulance service and emergency doctors.
The bill also includes another change: police officers will be allowed to carry out rapid drug tests on offenders directly, instead of having to take them to a hospital.
