Catarina Guerreiro, executive editor of CNN Portugal, stresses that “it became clear in all the reports [carried out by IGAS] that there are delays in emergency medical services” in Portugal.
During the sector strike, on average a call to the INEM took 28 minutes to be answered. This is not possible
Thursday, 8 January 2026RSS
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Context & Explainers
The National Institute of Medical Emergency (Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica), known as INEM, coordinates Portugal’s pre-hospital emergency care, ambulance dispatch and medical response to 112 calls. It matters to expats because INEM is responsible for ambulance response times and on-scene care — incidents like the reported three-hour wait in Seixal can trigger investigations, affect public confidence and influence how quickly you can expect help in an emergency.
