Ambulances are not a taxi service’

ONE THIRD of calls made for ambulances in Nicosia are for non-urgent requests, which are considered medically unnecessary.

Emergency ambulances, which should only be used in life or death situations are regularly being called out by members of the public for minor ailments, at the expense of the state.

Ambulance service, medical worker Ioannis Leontiou said that in Cyprus ambulances were frequently misused and it was important the public realises that ambulances are not a substitute for taxis.

He added that ambulance staff frequently had to travel to locations knowing that that there was no real emergency to attend to.

Leontiou told to Politis newspaper, “We are not at liberty to refuse a patient assistance even when we know the situation is trivial.”

“We respond to all such type calls and travel to the scene with the same urgency we would if it was a serious road-accident.

Nicosia General Hospital ambulance station responds to around 1,200 emergency calls each month and has only eight ambulance vehicles at its disposal.

In addition to the ambulance service being weighed down with inappropriate calls, staff members of the new Nicosia state hospital, have recently been faced with another setback.

The special ambulance lane in Kalamon Avenue which was built to allow ambulances hasty access in and out of the hospital is being used daily by drivers of private cars despite clear road regulations.

The lane which was specifically built to allow ambulances high-speed access to the centre of town is frequently used by private vehicles; hindering the work of medical staff and endangering patients’ lives.

“It must be made clear to Nicosia drivers that the ambulance lane is used to transport patients under life-threatening, time-critical conditions,” said Leontiou. “In such circumstances a delay of even a few seconds can cost a persons life.”

Leontiou also noted that efforts to upgrade the ambulance service were currently in place starting with the addition of four new ambulance stations in Cyprus.

To man the new ambulance stations the health sector was recruiting 24 additional drivers and 24 paramedics, which will have completed the newly approved state paramedic programme, which lasts for 18 months.

There are currently 84 ambulance drivers working in Cyprus.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.