RIGA, July 2 (LETA) - The Emergency Medical Service (NMPD) has achieved good response times for patients, said Liene Cipule, the service’s director, in an interview on TV3 this morning.

NMPD employees respond to approximately 1,000 calls per day, the majority of which are in Riga and the surrounding area.

Cipule noted that NMPD is working very, very hard on response times, and proposals to improve and modify the requirements have been submitted to the Ministry of Health.

Cipule explained that NMPD has achieved good response times for patients, but there are specific issues that affect its ability to respond to calls. One of these is the waiting time at hospitals, which needs to be shortened. Another issue is the number of calls, Cipule said, adding that public awareness of when to call NMPD has improved.

"And we also need to have a very serious discussion about hospitalization capacity and the hospital network," she said, explaining that any changes planned for the future must be implemented in a way that does not affect response times to emergency calls.