A shortage of staff has once again disrupted pre-hospital emergency responses in the Algarve, with several INEM ambulances out of service on Monday, 12th January. As the day progressed, the situation worsened, leaving a large part of the fleet unavailable.
During the morning, and until 4pm, two of the mere six ambulances operated by the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) in the Algarve were grounded due to a lack of crews. By the afternoon, the number of inoperative vehicles had risen to four ambulances, with a pre-hospital ‘emergency motorcycle’ also taken out of service.
This marked the third consecutive day in which at least one INEM-operated ambulance in the Algarve has been unable to operate, once again highlighting structural weaknesses in the region’s emergency response system.
Disruption is directly linked to staff shortages, a problem which, according to union sources, is not new and has been recurring over recent months.
Speaking to press on Monday, Rui Lázaro, president of the Union of Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians, said that in previous instances it had been necessary to temporarily relocate and redeploy staff from the north and centre of the country to maintain emergency cover in the Algarve, something that is not yet happening this time.
The union leader also warned of ongoing organisational problems within the service, noting that January’s duty roster already contains several gaps. According to Lázaro, the situation increases the risk of further emergency assets being taken out of service in the coming days, including as early as next weekend.
Source: CM
