A note from EMS Board Member and Nurse, Jaap-Frank Ponstein:
Today, on International Nurses Day, we take a moment to recognise the people who make a difference in healthcare every single day, including those working in ambulance care.
Ambulance nurses in the Netherlands provide care not only in acute emergency situations, but also within low- and medium-complexity ambulance care. They visit people in their homes, provide medical assessment and treatment on scene, and support patients during vulnerable moments. Sometimes this means delivering life-saving care under intense pressure; at other times it means providing calm, reassurance and helping to prevent unnecessary follow-up care or hospital transport.
Dutch ambulance care is evolving from exclusively emergency response towards broader mobile network care, in which collaboration with general practitioners, community nursing teams, dispatch centres, hospitals and other healthcare partners is becoming increasingly important. Nurses play an indispensable role in this development. Professional expertise, collaboration and compassion come together in this profession every day.
Today, we express our appreciation for all nurses in the ambulance care, and for their colleagues, including dispatch centre professionals and ambulance drivers, who make this possible together every day!
