Child Rescue Point Opens in Balatonlelle

A child rescue point was inaugurated on Wednesday in Balatonlelle. The 140 square meter base was built in cooperation between the Hungarian Children’s Rescue Foundation (MGYA) and the National Ambulance Service with the support of the local government, companies, and private individuals. There is no other similar facility in the country, MTI reports.

The MGYA, together with the Ambulance Service, has been operating a children’s ambulance on the southern shore of Lake Balaton for 15 years.

At the inauguration ceremony, Attila Beneda, Deputy State Secretary for Family Policy at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, said that the need for the ambulance, which has been in service in Balatonlelle for years, was proven by the thousands of cases it has treated.

György Pápai, Medical Director of the National Ambulance Service, said that all 8,500 ambulance workers were pleased that the child rescue point had been opened in Balatonlelle. He also said that the ambulance service attends to more than 1.2 million cases a year nationwide, including more than 40,000 cases involving children.

MGYA President Éva Gesztes said that the construction of the new 140-square-meter base cost the foundation 75 million forints, which is covered by donations of one percent of the total cost, as well as from companies and almost a thousand private donations.

He said it was decided two years ago that the base should be built, which will be operational in a week’s time, from the start of the holiday season until the end of August.

As he explained, the new base will also have a covered ambulance shelter, car loading facilities, laundry, and a warehouse. A child-friendly examination room is available for those arriving for outpatient care.

There are also on-call rooms where the staff who serve here after hours can rest, and a guest room for their family members, so they can spend as much time together as possible.

“We have taken a step towards a family-friendly workplace,” said Éva Gesztes.

In response to a question from MTI, she said that the new child rescue point is part of the Balatonlelle rescue station.

There was previously no child rescue center on the southern shore of the lake, and there is no pediatric clinic in close proximity, she said, explaining the need for the base.

On the northern shore, the number of cases is lower and there are no plans to set up a similar children’s rescue point there for the time being, nor would they have the resources, he added.

Balázs Ács, vice-president of Masterplast Nyrt., the main sponsor of the MGYA, said they had been working with the foundation for seven years.

He praised the fact that several partner companies and “colleagues” have joined the construction of the Lelle child rescue center, either at cost price or free of charge, providing products, services, and working hours.

Pál Győrfi, Director of Communications of the National Ambulance Service, told MTI that their work is supported by two foundations: one is the MGYA, and the other is the Szent Márton Foundation.

In the cooperation, the foundations provide emergency vehicles, the necessary special equipment, and the child rescue point in Balatonlelle, while the ambulance service finances the salaries of the staff working there and alerts them from the rescue control center.

It’s very important that the new child rescue point in Balatonlelle provides hospital-level care for the little ones,”

he said.

Source: MTI

Featured image: Balázs Ács, Director of Masterplast Kft., Éva Gesztes, president of the Hungarian Children’s Rescue Foundation, Tamás Topa, an employee of the National Ambulance Service (OMSZ) with his daughter, Attila Beneda, Deputy State Secretary for Family Policy of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM), and György Pápai, Medical Director of the National Ambulance Service (OMSZ) cut the national ribbon at the opening ceremony of the children’s rescue point in Balatonlelle on June 8, 2022. Photo by György Varga/MTI