Latest news and stories about ambulances in Portugal for expats and residents.
The acquisition of 163 ambulances, 34 VMER emergency medical response vehicles and 78 other vehicles — 275 vehicles in total — was announced in Parliament by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
The president of the Union of Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians, Rui Lázaro, welcomes the Government's reinforcement of emergency vehicles but warns about the shortcomings that remain in the south of the country. The mobilisation of workers from the North and Centre could be an important step to resolve the problem, says the union official.
At 07:00, four additional ambulances were deployed to strengthen pre-hospital emergency care and improve response capacity before patients reach hospital.
Filipe Santos Costa also criticises the Government's lack of proactivity in the health sector and its inability to resolve problems in light of recent controversies involving INEM and the deaths of three people in less than two days. Regarding Luís Montenegro's announcement about the purchase of 275 new vehicles for the emergency service, the CNN Portugal commentator points out that the ambulances “have been planned since 2023 and will arrive when they were due to arrive”, so “there is no decision here”.
The president of the Seixal Fire Brigade explains that the corps reported it had no ambulances available.
