Current events

Qualified Ambulance Attendants at NPP Fire Service

Paks Nuclear Power Plant Fire Service, i.e. Fire Service and Damage Prevention Department of ATOMIX Ltd., had its staff of firemen enrolled in 2 and a half years’ vocational training on the National Training Register to become qualified ambulance attendants. As a result of their efforts, all 17 of them who started the course and now work for the Fire Service were given their certificates on 22 October 2008.

In addition to fighting fires and providing technical rescue services, NPP Fire Service has also undertaken the provision of ambulance-based emergency services since the autumn of 2005. Firemen’s participation in the training was aimed at carrying out this task even more professionally with a higher level of education, helping them work with excellence.

Fire Service’ staff has already been in possession of appropriate qualifications since each staff member passed a medium-level first aid exam and, while formerly 33 of them acquired qualifications as ambulance attendants and 3 as certified ambulance attendants, now the number of certified ones has increased by another 17.

When alerted, the ambulance is out on the scene with a personnel of 3, including an ambulance doctor, an ambulance attendant and a driver who can also help as a qualified ambulance nurse. When the ambulance car 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 the basic health care provision (defibrillator, oxygen cylinder, emergency pouch, fracture fixation kit, etc.) and qualified ambulance nurses in service on the engine can provide aid to injured or sick victims.

Firemen sit an oral examination on 22 October, while they already completed practical tests on 21 and had passed a written exam a few days earlier. At the final examination, where firemen gave account of their theoretical knowledge, was present Major Tibor Pápai, head of the Emergency Health Care Centre of the State Health Centre of the Ministry of Defence, as the chair of the examination board, Attila Tóth, President of the National Ambulance Association (former senior ambulance officer of OMSZ), Mrs. Éva Vasasné Juhász, training manager of the Institute for Basic and Continuing Education of Health Workers, dr. Gábor Szvitán, chief ambulance doctor of the Hungarian National Ambulance and Emergency Service in Pécs and József Feil, ambulance officer and station head of the Hungarian National Ambulance and Emergency Service in Paks, who told us the following:

Mr. Tibor Pápai: “I think this exam is a real rarity partly because it is not typical for firemen to qualify as ambulance attendants and, partly, because they took part in the training in a very high number, which is unparalleled. In any event, it’s very good as the number of qualified ambulance attendants is growing, and they’ll do their health work with higher efficiency. This is so important because firemen are sometimes the first “health professionals”, in possession of adequate means and qualifications to act as required, to arrive to an accident scene. Besides the Fire Service, the Police and Disaster Management have already launched similar training initiatives. However, there is still a low number of firemen who have acquired such qualifications. It would be good to ensure that other organizations also give this issue appropriate focus, and the example set by firemen of Paks does have its followers. In certain positions, the above-mentioned areas should have an increased emphasis on first aid training as well as development and maintenance of the required skills. For NPP firemen, it’s great that all who had embarked upon the course, and are still working for the Fire Service, were able to complete it with success. With this, however, the process of learning will not come to an end because the level of knowledge obtained should be maintained and further increased in the form of advanced training and accredited studies.”

Mr. Attila Tóth: “Besides Paks, Százhalombatta also maintains a rescue system where ambulance doctors are provided with cars and, sometimes, attendants by the fire department but, to the best of my knowledge, Százhalombatta does not have such a training background. NPP is a rarity because first aid training has been conducted here since the very beginning, and they have always been interested in acquiring only the best in giving first aid. It was 10 years ago that I personally started to train firemen here, and was a witness to the progress as the training system has been deployed step by step. First, basic then medium level first aid courses were launched, and then training in the use of semi-automatic defibrillators followed. Setting up the Ambulance Service was a next step, making it imperative to ensure that all who work as attendants are properly qualified.

Drawing on my experience with practical exams, I can say that Paks has a team featuring trainees with a level of competence above the average. Unflagging diligence and an attentive approach to everything are that characterize them. NPP Fire Service staff has acquired through more learning the mass of knowledge what other ambulance attendants obtain through practice. Of course, they also have to get practical experience that is essential for passing the exam, which is not an easy task. This also applies to the examination itself. Success and nothing else that our system appreciates; so it simply does not have pass or satisfactory mark. Failing to have an X-ray equipment and any other means that can help them diagnose an injury, firemen are in a situation quite different from that hospital physicians or attendants are in. Firemen must be well-trained, and they actually meet this requirement. Now, I speak from experience; it’s now 8 years that I’ve been organizing rescue competitions with lifelike situations both in Hungary and abroad. When NPP firemen first entered a competition and in the end could stand on the podium right at first go at a nationwide contest, it was a great surprise. Everybody praised their high qualifications and reliable knowledge.”

Dr. Gábor Szvitán: “The training system in place at NPP Fire Service set a good example in terms of not only healthcare aspects but also professional ones. From this year on, we operate a complex and transparent system of medium-level first aid, 80 hours’ attendance and qualified attendance courses. I have been working for the Fire Service since 2005, and I can tell you that simply having two qualified attendants on board is a great advantage. One of them also can drive the car. Practicing the attendants on external sites is, though urged by trainees and management as well, not yet become an established practice. We wish it would. Participation in pooled drills and various rescue situations is of utmost importance in keeping the professional standard of training high.”

Mrs. Éva Vasasné Juhász: “As for me, I thank the commanders for their invaluable help with supporting our training efforts throughout a period of two and a half years. A remote training programme always faces problems and requires much focus on how to establish and maintain regular contacts. Fortunately, our contacts work dynamically and smoothly. I think it’s a common achievement that our trainees could prepare for their written, practical and theoretical exams with so much zeal, and with such a success.

Mr. József Feil: I have taken part in training events arranged so far as an ambulance officer working here. Firemen’s active attitude, thirst for information to acquire knowledge and enthusiastic insistence all along the course was exemplary for me. Their approach to learning in a devoted effort to reach their goal and acquire qualifications, without feeling it a burden, also serves as a good example. Congratulations to our firemen for their excellence in learning and for qualifying as ambulance attendants since it wasn’t an easy job to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in a two and a half years’ long course. We wish you all the best for your future work!

by Mrs. Anna Lovásziné
Nuclear Power Plant - November 2008 issue