Building the Tower of Babel: cross-border urgent medical assistance in Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands.
The border area between Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands includes a substantial number of cooperative forms in the urgent medical assistance sector. Collaboration usually takes place in densely populated areas with cities or villages situated on or in proximity to the border. In some regions, definitive borders are not apparent to the extent that inhabitants often times are unaware of their existence. The border may pass directly through a built-up area with intense cross-border activity due to population residency, place of work, shopping, and recreational pursuits. To obtain a deeper insight into cross-border Urgent Medical Assistance (UMA), the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (IKR) and the Ministry for Health, Welfare, and Sports (HWS) in The Netherlands commissioned research into cross-border UMA impediments and solutions at administrative, judicial, and operational level. The following central questions were presented for research: (1) What opportunities and impediments are presented in the area of cross-border, urgent medical assistance at administrative, legal, operational, and equipment employable level?; and (2) Which solutions may be submitted to tackle existing impediments? Two techniques were employed to answer the research questions. First, relevant documents were studied from extensive file and literature searches. File and literature search findings subsequently were tested in practice through interviews with relevant experts. Dutch ambulance services provide support to both their Belgian and German counterparts and vice versa. In the instance of cross-border ambulance deployment, relevant assistance services are subject to due observance of various legislations and regulations. Such regulations may restrict effective and efficient deployment of personnel and equipment at critical moments, because regulation discrepancies may arise over ambulance personnel's authorities, ambulance content, and deployment sequence. Discrepencies also may exist in the area of financial compensation concerning ambulance deployment and hospital admission. Gaining knowledge on their disparate systems and the opportunity to utilize the medical provisions of a neighboring country potentially in closer proximity to those in the victim's own country serves the best interests of the patient. Survival chances of a traumatized patient increase with the expedited arrival of medical assistance and increased speed of transportation to an appropriate hospital.
Post
G B
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ITS, Institute for Applied Social Sciences, Nimegen, The Netherlands. B.Post@its.kun.nl
D001530:Belgium; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D009426:Netherlands; D010343:Patient Admission; D010348:Patient Care Team; D014187:Transportation of Patients