Pros and cons of the PRM system (National Medical Emergency Service), from the viewpoint of paramedics

The amended Regulation of the 8th September 2006 concerning the National Medical Emergency Service in Poland governs how this system operates. Its functioning in a medical emergency situation is currently based on a combination of the Anglo-American model with the Franco-German one, where physicians are absent in the former, within an arriving emergency medical team, but are present in the latter. The Polish system has two categories of emergency medical teams: basic (consisting of paramedics and system nurses) and specialist (which additionally includes a system doctor).

The presented study is based on all the available literature sources on emergency medicine. It describes in summary form all the most commonly found problems facing the system of emergency medicine in Poland which can adversely affect its operation. These consist of the following: 1. There is no unified education system. 2. Regional differences abound in the numbers of hospital emergency departments and composition of emergency medical teams throughout Poland. 3. The limited availability and high prices of professional training. 4. A lack of psychological counselling for medical staff. 5. An inefficient emergency callout system; a patient calls 112 and connects to the Emergency Notification Centre and is then forwarded on to an emergency medical service dispatcher, thus increasing delays in providing assistance. Study conclusions: The following requirements were identified: 1. Standardising the education system for emergency medical services in Poland. 2. Adopting standardised methods for setting up emergency medical teams and hospital emergency departments. 3. Providing psychological care for medical/paramedical staff. 4. Improving the medical emergency service notification/calling system.