Bălceşti case ‘could not have been treated there’

Under-Secretary of State Ministry of Health, Raed Arafat, said on Friday that the patient who died in hospital Bălceşti of Vrancea, had a very serious illness and needed to reach the higher level hospitals.

Raed Arafat said that in the case of Vâlcea, on Thursday, the first 112 call was made at 9.29 pm by a neighbour.

The caller said that the patient fainted.

The dispatcher was able to tell him to put the patient in a lateral position, but the call was interrupted’, the Under-Secretary of State said.

At 9.37 came the announcement that the caller went to the hospital of Bălceşti, at which time more information was requested, but despite the dispatcher asking for directions, the caller kept hanging up pretty fast.

The dispatcher then rang the caller, but the driver had already reached the hospital in Bălceşti where the patient's death had been confirmed by two family physicians and by the paramedics that had arrived at the scene.

The Under-Secretary of State said that the man suffered a massive brain stem hemorrhage affecting the respiratory center, as the diagnosis was established by the forensic experts.

Raed Arafat stated that in this case there must be taken into account several issues, for example the recorded phone calls and the ambulances monitored through the GPS.
‘We need to know that all the 112 calls are recorded and the phone numbers, even the private ones, appear in the command center.

‘Plus all the ambulances that are controlled through the GPS. Thereby there be could noticed that the ambulance, which had been gone for an emergency in Drăgăşani , stayed there for 45 minutes instead of 15 as it had been legally given that they had an uncovered area.

‘30 minutes could have been saved: It was about a pregnant woman that had been no medical emergency’, the Under-Secretary of State said.

Another ambulance brought to Bălceşti

According to Raed Arafat, after closing the Hospital in Bălceşti another emergency ambulance was brought.

‘The Hospital in Bălceşti could not have solved this case since the health unit was specialized in gynecology, ENT and a retired doctor.

‘The patient needed to quickly be transported to the hospital in Craiova or the on in Râmnicu Vălcea after that serious stroke in the brainstem’, the Under-Secretary of State added.

According to Raed Arafat, by 2014, pursuant to the health law, the paramedics need to reach the rural areas, including the helicopters, within 20 minutes.

He also said that in a serious case the nearest car is sent, even with no doctor inside while another ambulance heads for it.

‘Unfortunately, people, still because of their desire to help their peers in pain, put them inside the car howsoever and take them ​​to the hospital.

‘All over the world it is recommended that in these cases to come a medical crew even if it has just a paramedic to take the patient following that on the route he needs to be taken by an emergency crew of degree 0,as the patient was situated at a longer distance and harder to reach spot .

‘Unfortunately the stroke trunk is usually irredeemable, as the patient may eventually become an organ donor’, Raed Arafat concluded.

The case gave rise to reactions and locals protested against the health ministry action since the closure of some hospitals.

Over a hundred residents from the city of Bălceşti in the Vâlcea county protested on Friday in front of the town's hospital, demanding the resignation of the minister of health and a change in the decision to close the medical unit.

According to the manager of the Municipal Hospital Bălceşti , Vâlcea, Gabriel Popescu, the Bălceşti hospital was reopened Friday, and the medical staff that had not been reassigned showed up at work, respectively seven doctors and five nurses, who currently provide pro bono specialist consultations.

Public Health Department began an investigation

Public Health Department began an investigation of this case.

According to Radio Romania Actualităţi reporter, Anamaria Cârste, the investigation primarily referred to retrieving of the sequence of events on Thursday, especially the calls made ​​towards the Ambulance Services, in order to know exactly how much time had he man waited for the paramedics' help.

The man had initially been driven to Drăgăşani, but when the person complained of more severe headaches, they have decided to head for Bălceşti.

At Bălceşti they did not find anyone, as the hospital had been closed earlier this month and there was no doctor to attend him.

Under these conditions, the Ambulance Service arrived, which was about 200 meters from the hospital, where they were found, again, nobody, because the two ambulances, the only ones in Bălceşti were left on the field.

The building served as offices of the local family doctors who had no other choice than to pronounce him dead.

According to the representatives from the Department of Public Health Vâlcea, they went on Wednesday to his physician, who put no diagnosis.

Translated by: Iulia Florescu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University