BOLZANO. A pilot project at emergency room of the Bolzano hospital to offer support, up to the moment of taking charge for the necessary care, to the waiting people. The service will be carried out by Red Cross volunteers, specially trained, who will act as a link between patients, family members and staff.
“It was important for us to provide the staff on duty in the emergency room with someone who could reassure the people concerned, obtain information for them, provide guidance or even just bring a coffee or water if they wish – explains the technical-assistance director. , Marianne Siller – These are small but important things, which the volunteers can take care of and which allow to avoid unpleasant escalations as well as making people feel more at ease, especially during peak hours ».
The service, introduced especially at peak times, is coordinated by the Red Cross. Volunteers were trained to know the details of the hospital, to protect privacy and maintain hygiene, as well as to have learned the correct way to conduct a conversation and aspects of non-verbal communication.
«Assistance to the acute and emergency patients is a special sector. The patient and those accompanying him are in a state of alarm, are worried and sometimes frightened, while the emergency room staff has to deal mainly with medical assistance. Hence the idea of supporting these people ”, he comments the provincial councilor to health, Thomas Widmann.