The central service of the National Center for Immediate Assistance was visited in the morning by the President of PASOK-Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis.

The President of EKAV, Nikos Papaevstathiou, and representatives of the workers informed him that due to the lack of personnel in the Cyclades and Dodecanese islands, excluding some large islands such as Rhodes, the 24-hour operation of an ambulance is barely covered.

The example of Mykonos and Paros is typical, with three and seven permanent lifeguards respectively.

In the discussion of Mr. Androulakis with the management and employees of EKAV, it was pointed out that due to the low salaries and the lack of motivation, there is no interest in the announcements of auxiliary staff positions.

Especially in Attica, in order to cover the increased needs, 20 additional ambulances are needed in each shift and 10 more at night, while throughout the country it is necessary to hire at least 700 rescuers.

The President of EKAV pointed out that on some islands and on the mainland there are “two-speed” ambulances and specifically referred to the incident that occurred in Paxos during the first year of the pandemic where a man had a breakdown and took the ambulance with only the driver.

After the end of the meeting, the President of PASOK-Change Movement made the following statement:

“The staff shortages in the EKAV, in the primary health centers and in general in the NHS have tragic results for the Greek people. The government is not using the billions of the Recovery Fund correctly, so that we can create a modern NHS, with services throughout Greece. Finally, there must be an adjustment, so that resources are given to the NHS. We are committed to channeling 8% to 10% of the resources of the Recovery Fund and not 2% to 4% as it has chosen in an ideological way, to the detriment of the public interest, by the government of the New Democracy”.