Tartu ambulance chief warns of medic shortage in crisis scenarios
The head of Tartu's ambulance service warns that a Social Affairs Ministry plan to cut crew sizes threatens Estonia's readiness for crisis situations. The Defence Forces say a three-person crew is the minimum needed for serious cases.
Lauri Kõrgvee, head of Tartu's ambulance service, told Estonian broadcaster "Aktuaalne Kaamera" that ambulance services form an important part of Estonia's comprehensive national defence system. He was commenting on a Social Affairs Ministry plan to reduce the staffing of some ambulance crews to two people.
Kõrgvee pointed to lessons from Ukraine's experience, raising the question of how many medical workers would actually remain at their posts during a serious crisis. He noted that many medics also hold military positions or duties, meaning several different structures compete for the same specialists.
Crew composition
An ambulance crew typically includes a doctor, a nurse, and a technician or emergency medical specialist. Currently, about 90% of ambulance crews in Estonia operate under a nurse's leadership.
Nikita Panjuškin, head of the medical services department at the Social Affairs Ministry, maintains that the total number of working medics will not change. He said the main change is an increase in the number of crews, but since the Health Insurance Fund's ambulance-related budget is limited and the number of specialists in Estonia is also limited, restructuring crew composition is the only way to increase the number of crews.
Planned reform
The Social Affairs Ministry plans to carry out an ambulance service reform in Estonia by 2028. The reform would expand the existing network of ambulance stations, change crew locations, reduce the number of crews, cut staffing on some crews to two people, and reduce the number of crews on duty at night.
The Defence Forces have assessed that reducing crew staffing from three to two people would make it harder for ambulance services to perform their functions during crises and under martial law. The Defence Forces noted that both training exercises and real situations have shown that a three-person crew is the minimum optimal option for helping severely injured people or beginning initial procedures when responding to incidents with many casualties.
