Yekaterinburg to Overhaul Ambulance Dispatch System

Sverdlovsk Region will alter the system for processing ambulance calls. Previously, medical teams could be summoned directly through hospitals, but a unified dispatch service for the whole region will be launched in the coming months. Calls will be received on numbers 103 and 112. Health Minister Tatyana Savinova explained in an OTV broadcast that this change aims to enhance ambulance services.

“A unified dispatch will speed up ambulance work. In Yekaterinburg, there are 11 dispatchers receiving calls, and six more decide on team distribution. But in most district hospitals, it«s impossible to provide a separate qualified dispatcher. Their functions are performed by clinic administrators or duty nurses. It»s important that these are specialized staff. Unfortunately, calls can be lost, or medical histories incorrectly taken. Such situations will be eliminated when a professional dispatcher handles the call,” Savinova explained.

An expanded regional dispatch center will be established in Yekaterinburg. From here, calls from all settlements in the region will be received, and the nearest available teams will be dispatched (including from neighboring municipalities). The system will be reconfigured this year, but the minister has not yet specified an exact timeline.

The dispatch center will unite 52 ambulance units, including seven stations, 39 departments, and five emergency advisory departments.

Additionally, ambulance services will operate based on medical districts that align with Sverdlovsk Region«s divisions: the Mining District (centered in Nizhny Tagil), Northern District (Serov), Eastern District (Artyomovsky), Southern District (Kamensk-Uralsky), Central District (Yekaterinburg), and Western District (Pervouralsk). Meanwhile, the teams themselves will continue to be stationed in small settlements as well, but their work will be coordinated from district centers. This will allow medical staff to travel to neighboring municipalities when needed.

Previously, we published stories of ambulance medics who daily save Yekaterinburg residents. Also read an interview with the head doctor of the ambulance service in Yekaterinburg.