Mobile FAPs may appear in the Vitebsk region

March 10, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. Mobile paramedic and obstetric stations may be created in the Vitebsk region to provide medical care to residents of small remote settlements. This was announced today at a press conference by the head of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Healthcare Department, Yury Derkach, a BELTA correspondent reports. The creation of such mobile teams will eventually allow replacing the work of stationary paramedic and obstetric stations in places with a small population. The region has over 6,000 settlements, and some small farms and settlements are significantly remote from district centers. "As a result, some paramedic and obstetric stations serve only 200-400 people, although they are designed to serve about 800 residents," Yury Derkach noted. The first mobile paramedic and obstetric station is planned to be created this summer in the Postavy district. It will serve 3-4 sparsely populated villages and will operate in parallel with the stationary station. In practice, it is planned to work out all issues of organizing the activities of the mobile paramedic and obstetric station, after which the experience gained will be analyzed, and the need for additional equipment will be studied based on the demand for types of medical care. An important factor in making a final decision on the implementation of mobile paramedic and obstetric stations will be studying public opinion on whether this form of medical care is acceptable to them. This will make it possible to significantly save costs without deteriorating the quality and accessibility of medical care for rural residents, believes Yury Derkach. The mobile paramedic and obstetric station is planned to be based on an ambulance, the production of which is established in the FEZ "Vitebsk". In 2011, the region plans to purchase 88 such specialized vehicles, fully equipped with the necessary equipment, for healthcare facilities in the region, including for work in rural areas. A total of about 400 paramedic and obstetric stations operate in the Vitebsk region. -0-