An infuriating incident occurred during the emergency transfer of a cancer patient from Thassos to Kavala, in northern Greece when an ambulance crew from the National Center for Emergency Assistance (EKAV) was confronted with a demand to pay a €39 ferry ticket in order to board the vessel.
The incident took place on Monday afternoon aboard a ferry operating the Limenas–Keramoti route. According to Kostas Tsitsilikakis, president of the EKAV Rescue Workers Union of Greece, the crew was asked to pay the fare, without any consideration that the ambulance was carrying out an urgent emergency medical transport.
Tsitsilikakis stated to ThessPost.gr: “They asked for a ticket for the ambulance and the crew. Our colleagues refused to pay it. Nevertheless, they were issued tickets anyway and told ‘give them to EKAV so they can pay us.’ The captain also intervened, speaking harshly to the crew and insisting they pay. EKAV ambulances and emergency vehicles do not pay fares; they pass tolls for free and have not paid ferry fees for years.”
According to him, the transfer involved an urgent case concerning the patient’s health. “It was an emergency, as the patient had to be transported from the Health Center of Prinos to Kavala General Hospital. It concerns a cancer patient, approximately 75 years old, with kidney failure, who urgently needed to reach the hospital for treatment,” he stressed.
