The Emergency Hospital in Chisinau needs to replace 70% of its fleet of ambulances, which are beyond their operating limit. According to current regulations, an ambulance should be changed every 5 years, given the yearly wear coefficient of 15-20%.
The director of the National Center of Emergency Medicine Gheorghe Ciobanu told IPN that according to the regulations, Moldova should have about 445 ambulances, while there are only 378. Part of these have a high wear coefficient and their maintenance is costly. Besides, it means a reduced efficiency of emergency responses.
“We are reluctant regarding the use of some of the current ambulances. Not all of them meet European requirements and should be removed from use. We mean those from the Soviet era. It is necessary for all emergency vehicles to be four-wheel drive, because most Moldovans live in the countryside where the roads are in bad shape”, said Ciobanu.
The expert added that the medical equipment for an ambulance is more expensive than the vehicle itself. The directors of hospitals with emergency departments suggested to the Ministry of Health that the vehicles were bought by the state and the hospitals would equip them with the available apparatuses in order to increase the number of ambulances that could be called upon in cases of emergency.
The cost of an ambulance is about 1.5 million lei.
