The ER at the North Estonia Medical Center (PERH) Emergency Department had already seen significant delays in mid-August, and these reappeared Thursday.

PERH chief Vassili Novak told ERR that the queue began forming around noon Thursday, while during the busiest period, up to six ambulances were waiting, each for around two hours.

Novak said: "Today was a particularly challenging day. There were quite a few seriously ill patients, including a significant number of oncology cases which needed extensive medical attention, as well as some cardiology and neurology patients, whose care took longer than usual."

As of the time of writing according to Novak the situation has since improved. "Right now there are still a few ambulances in line, but the patient flow has decreased. Probably the situation will normalize soon."

Novak stressed that there was no threat to patients needing urgent care while waiting in line, providing assurance that the on-duty team is closely monitoring and triaging the situation.

If a critically ill patient presents, they are immediately transferred to the ICU, he added.

The main issue, according to Novak, is that the ambulance crews waiting in line are not available to respond to other emergencies.

"In such cases where an ambulance has to wait for hours to hand over a patient are occurring with some regularity. We cannot exactly forecast when these moments will happen," Novak commented.

Novak said that ambulance callouts should always be made in critical cases.

Tank rupture and chemical leak unrelated to ER capacity situation

Earlier today, shortly after 10 a.m., a container tank ruptured in the basement of PERH's Y-block, causing a chemical leak that has since been contained.

Tallinn ambulance (Tallinna kiirabi) chief Raul Adlas meanwhile told told ERR that additional crews were activated following the leak.

Siim Palu, spokesperson for the Northern rescue center (Põhja päästekeskus), reported that efforts to pump out the contents of the tank and plug the leak using absorbent material are likely to continue until tomorrow morning.

Palu said: "Rescuers equipped with chemical protective gear were able to find the chemical leak. After several hours of covering the area with absorbent material and pumping around the tank, the leak has been confined to the room where the tank ruptured."

Palu added that the incident did not affect hospital patients and was not connected with the ambulance delays.

The cause of the rupture is to be determined through further investigation.

No one was injured as a result of the explosion, fire, or subsequent chemical leak.

Novak reiterated that while the leak is cause for concern, it was not directly related to the ER's capabilities in admitting patients. "The patient flow at ER was not directly impacted by this incident. We were, of course, prepared to receive additional patients where needed, but since that did not transpire, there was no direct link," he said.

Tallinn Ambulance services were last most severely disrupted just over a fortnight ago, on August 13, thanks to a reduced capacity for PERH to take on ER patients.

At that time, 30 percent of the capital's ambulance resources were immobilized for up to five hours, as a direct result.

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