site.btaAssociation Proposes Uniform Paramedic Training across Bulgaria

The Union of Paramedics in Bulgaria (UPB) has prepared a set of proposals to ensure uniformity of the theoretical and practical training of the country's paramedics based on the standards of the European Society for Emergency Medicine, the UPB press office said on July 8, which is International Paramedics Day. The proposals are aimed to address what the UPB considers "one of the most serious problems in Bulgaria": the varying number, length and content of paramedic classes in higher schools and occupational centres.

In some learning institutions, classes are too few and practical training is very insufficient. Some of the disciplines that are taught have no relevance to the training of paramedics, and only serve to burden the curriculum, UPB Chair Iva Pehlivanska said, as quoted in the press release. Economics and entrepreneurship are among the unnecessary subjects, she said. "Why study a foreign language instead of Latin medical terminology?" Pehlivanska wondered.

The proposals include recommendations about everything that should be taught to student paramedics. The ideas will be presented shortly to higher schools, training centres and other learning institutions.

This year's theme of International Paramedics Day is "The Difference We Make". It highlights the important role played by paramedics worldwide every day. Bulgaria has about 2,000 paramedics of various degrees of qualification, the UPB said.

In May, the UPB cited an EU survey which shows that in countries where paramedics are integrated in the emergency medical care system, fatal accidents have decreased by more than 70%.