Current  events

To Be The First In A Country

17 firemen from the Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service successfully passed final exam and got their certificates on 22 October 2008, as a termination of their two and a half year studies on ambulance nursing. In the opinion of some teachers and well-known professionals, it’s a great thing on a national scale, as well. It is worthy of attention partly because participants of the training came from a fire department and not from the health care industry, and partly because firemen applied for admission to the training in such a high number. In Hungary, Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service is the first fire fighting body to have a so significant number of members with mastership exams on ambulance nursing.

It’s for years that Fire Service of the Nuclear Power Plant of Paks has been providing emergency care with one motor ambulance on the plant site and, in certain cases, outside the plant. Fire Service management intended to ensure that a well-trained personnel is available for this task. When alerted, the ambulance is out on the scene with a personnel of three, including an ambulance doctor, an ambulance nurse and a driver who can also help as a qualified ambulance nurse. Moreover, people injured in accidents or otherwise can have a higher-level health care provision when such qualifications are available for the personnel even if the motor ambulance is out of reach.

When the ambulance is called out to provide emergency assistance in another case or is not on the site for any other reason, the fire engine sent out to the scene can be equipped with means necessary for basic health care provision (e.g. defibrillator, oxygen cylinder, etc.) and qualified ambulance nurses in service on the engine can provide aid to injured or sick victims at their respective competence levels. As to the training itself, chair of the examination board Tibor Pápai, head of the Emergency Health Care Centre of the Ministry of Defence, spoke highly of this NPP initiative, as it was not typical for Hungarian firemen to qualify as ambulance nurses, especially not in such high proportions. According to President of the National Ambulance Association Attila Tóth, NPP Fire Service is a rarity all the more because first aid training courses were launched from the very beginning. In his experience, trainees performed well above the average level in this training session.

As an ambulance doctor working for the Hungarian National Ambulance and Emergency Service, Dr. Gábor Szvitán said that NPP Fire Service provided exemplary training to firemen. According to training manager Mrs. Éva Vasasné Juhász, it is praiseworthy for Fire Service to organize a two and a half year training session that could take place with so much inherent dynamism and swing. Ambulance officer József Feil pointed out, as a commendable example to be followed, firemen’s attitude to learning and activity.

Our Fire Service has always paid great attention to providing opportunities for the continuing training and education of firemen, due to which each staff member has already passed a medium-level first aid exam, while 33 of them are qualified and 3 certified ambulance nurses. Now, as many as 20 fire fighters are allowed to serve aboard the ambulance as qualified attending personnel. Congratulations! We wish you all the best in your future work.
 

by Mrs. Anna Lovásziné
Paksi Hírnök