Two doctors from St Anastasia children's hospital in Burgas were in Prague on a Czech-Bulgarian expert mission on emergency medical care and civil protection. The mission ran from November 3 to 6, the hospital said.
The two are hospital manager Dr Blagomir Zdravkov and Dr Tsanko Stefanov, head of the emergency department. They swapped experience on out-of-hospital emergency care, meaning the help a patient gets outside a hospital. The Czech embassy in Bulgaria, the Ministry of Health and professional organisations organised the mission.
There, the doctors looked at the Czech model for responding to emergencies and at how Czech rescue services work. They met Czech deputy health minister Ladislav Švec.
They visited the Air Rescue Service and Motol University Hospital. They saw an integrated dispatch system at work, and looked separately at technology from leading Czech makers of medical equipment.
Talks covered replacing specialised vehicles, building emergency care bases and how the units work together in a crisis.
St Anastasia children's hospital in Burgas has had international contacts before. In October we reported that the hospital and the university hospital of Trakya University in Edirne will swap doctors under a five-year agreement. The deal was signed on October 8 in Edirne, where Dr Zdravkov spoke at the signing.
"These were four productive days of professional exchange and real chances for future cooperation," Dr Zdravkov said. On the invitation to the hospital, he added: "The fact that we are among the invited participants shows that the hospital is already recognised as a player in healthcare."