After Six Years, X-Ray Service Reestablished in Emergency Medical Services

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - After six years, the X-ray service was reestablished today at the Public Institution Institute for Emergency Medical Services of Sarajevo Canton.

Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton Edin Forto, Minister of Health of Sarajevo Canton Haris Vranić, and Acting Director of Emergency Medical Services Amra Bašić-Živadinović emphasized the immeasurable importance of introducing this service in the aforementioned institution. Citizens are provided with better service, while simultaneously relieving the secondary and tertiary levels of healthcare.

In cooperation with the Government of Switzerland and UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government of Sarajevo Canton secured and donated a Siemens brand X-ray machine to the Institute for Emergency Medical Services of Sarajevo Canton. It is a modern digital MULTIX Select DR X-ray machine, worth around 185,000 BAM.

"It often happens that citizens have injuries but are not sure if they have fractures or how severe they are. After treatment in the emergency room, they very often have to go to a higher level of healthcare for additional tests. With the opening of this X-ray service, everything can be completed in one place. This is a very cost-effective thing for citizens, in terms of their time and convenience, but also for other medical institutions that will achieve significant savings because they will not have to process these emergency patients," said Prime Minister Forto, who especially thanked Minister Vranić for showing a vision for Emergency Medical Services that should be more than what it has been so far.

Minister Vranić said that the Ministry of Health of Sarajevo Canton and the Government of Sarajevo Canton recognized the importance of Emergency Medical Services, and that they will continue to work to ensure the capacity building of Emergency Medical Services, both materially and spatially, with the aim of this institution becoming what it once was again.

"We will strive to improve the work of Emergency Medical Services, which reduces pressure on other healthcare capacities. Primarily through staff strengthening. Orthopedists, plaster technicians, pediatricians, and surgeons worked here. We allocated significant financial resources for the reconstruction of this facility, with the aim of it not being just emergency medical and transport assistance, but also providing adequate first aid. Even in some cases, to care for patients," said Minister Vranić, adding that Emergency Medical Services was, for some reasons, devastated at one point.

"Services that belong to it were taken away. We will do everything to bring them back, because we do not want only transport to higher levels of healthcare to be carried out from here, but also to strengthen its home care service, to be available to all citizens of Sarajevo Canton, and for them to receive all the first aid needed at a given moment in this facility. That assistance also refers to surgical, orthopedic, pediatric, or internal medicine cases," said Minister Vranić.

Director Bašić-Živadinović pointed out that the X-ray service, which was abolished in this institution in 2015, and according to the rulebook from 2013 was not even foreseen, begins operating today, but not at full capacity.

"We will strive to have the X-ray service covered in the afternoon and evening hours and to be able to provide imaging services. This is especially important due to the work of other institutions that provide this type of service, because Emergency Medical Services will cover the second shift. The goal is to improve healthcare services, and with this radiological service provided to citizens, it will be complemented. In the period of the pandemic's complication, we will probably have a certain number of lung X-rays to determine whether the patient is for transport to the hospital. In addition to the clinical finding and taking the medical history, the X-ray will certainly help us make a decision about the further treatment of the patient," said Director Bašić-Živadinović.