Paramedics ready to get involved as medical professionals in schools
The proposal is based on information about the previous two school years
Against the backdrop of the flu wave and forced holidays, paramedics are ready to help the education system and get involved as medical professionals in the offices in schools. The problem in the system goes back a long time. On the one hand, there is a shortage of nurses to examine children at school, and on the other hand, the current Ordinance 3 limits their opportunities in emergency situations.
The proposal of the paramedics is based on information about the previous two school years, covering the whole country. On an annual basis, about 300 visits are registered in a school with about 1000 students in the health office.
In 1 in 10 cases, the student seeks help because of a wound. Eight times more visits to the office with complaints such as headaches, fever, abdominal pain, rash or insect bites.
The medical specialist does not have the power to act, accordingly, he must call emergency care and parents - in only 1% of all incidents at school.
Just till 3:00 p.m. through the medical office at 107. The Khan Krum Primary School in Sofia has more than 20 pupils. In case of such complaints, Desislava Tsenova calls a parent and a GP and sends the child home. But there is no shortage of more serious situations in which he turns to 112.
“Last week there was a case of a child with a nut allergy. She had eaten a chocolate candy, in which she had, respectively, an allergic reaction. I really have my hands tied and I can't give him medicine because I don't have the right by law, even though I've been trained. I had to call the mother and 112 to do what I could do in three minutes," the doctor said.
The reason – although he is a medical assistant and can work alongside doctors in a hospital, in school he can only be a medical professional, without the right to apply his skills in an emergency situation. Before she was recruited, 107th School was looking for a man for the position for eight months. “We had an associate military doctor re-appointed as a medical specialist. The man was 81 years old. There are no such specialists willing, extremely low pay, humiliating, I would say," said Director Danko Calapis.
The City Council, however, countered. “There is no shortage. The increased salaries start at BGN 1 890 for medical professionals,” said Ivan Vassilev, Deputy Mayor of Sofia responsible for Finance and Health.
But schools with fewer than 800 students, such as the threshold for hiring a full-time health professional, are in a stalemate. There is someone to examine students with complaints only four hours a day or every other day.
The Union of Paramedics offered help. “We already have over 3000 graduates of paramedics in Bulgaria, many of them would be happy to help. They provide sports events in which children participate, provide mass concerts and other cultural events. I do not know that in Bulgaria anyone is better prepared than paramedic for first aid", said the President of the Union of Paramedics in Bulgaria Iva Pehlivanska.
The response in schools: ‘Paramedics in Bulgaria are trained in a course of 900 hours
They can, in case he has a broken leg, immobilize it and transport it to the nearest medical institution. But I do not agree that medical care can be carried out by them,” said Calapis.
"They could replace a completely missing medical person in the school", added the medical assistant by profession Desislava Tsenova.
The position of the Ministry of Health: ‘In order to extend the scope of medical professionals who can examine children at school or to extend their rights to react in an emergency situation, the current Ordinance 3 needs to be revised.’
In a position to NOVA, the ministry said that such changes are already on the agenda, but are being agreed between the institutions and will still be subject to public discussion.
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