The head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Dr. Raed Arafat, declared in an interview with AGERPRES that the problems that the five SMURD (Emergency Mobile Resuscitation and Extrication Service) centers are facing, that can no longer be financially supported, as a result of the wage increase in the local administration, can be fixed, through an organized national system, that belongs to the state, and not to the local authority.
"We have to find a solution. We need to settle with the Finances (Ministry, ed. n.) and with everyone and say: "In the interest of those at least 300,000 people, maybe even nearly half a million people - each team needs to serve at least 10,000 people in their area of intervention - if we let these crews to stop, this means that we are leaving those people with no health care cover, that they would need to wait for an ambulance coming from further away, lots of headache with that. The staff needs to be taken over and kept. The solution is to ensure financing from either the City hall, or - the most stable and secure solution - take them over, and introduce them in the official system, of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) and the military SMURD," Arafat added.