Health Minister Milan Kujundzic held a press conference on Thursday where he informed the public on the findings of the inspection sent to look into the death of the 22-year-old Matteo Ruzic in the town of Zapresic on Sunday.

Ruzic died on Sunday afternoon after fainting in the street in Zapresic. The ambulance arrived at the scene quickly, but only a nurse and a technician, and not a doctor, were in the response team. Another response team, with the doctor, arrived a little under half and hour later, but by then it was too late. His death caused strong reactions from the media and public, with calls for Health Minister’s resignation.

“The inspection found the following – the system worked properly, all that was done was according to regulations and standards. Team 1, which includes a physician, was called for immediately, but was too far, so Team 2 was called for. A nurse who was at the scene began resuscitation, but even she said, unfortunately, there was no pulse, no breathing. A nurse who arrived with the ambulance continued with resuscitation, but with no change. A doctor who arrived with Team 1 at the scene some 20 minutes later confirmed the man’s death,” the minister said.

He added that the man had probably suffered from an underlying condition which contributed to his sudden death.

“What we know is that he had asthma. Obviously there was something else there, but we should wait for the autopsy report. Again, I want to express my sincere condolences to the family,” he said.

He also said that a doctor’s presence would have changed nothing in this case, and that people die even if the ambulance is present.

“Not everyone will be saved. There are cases, such as this one, where 90 percent people lose their life. This is the reality of human life,” he said.

He talked about the possibility of changing the existing regulations.

“We are considering it. You cannot change law overnight, we are preparing a new law, where this will be regulated. There was no reason for speedy changes because the system, compared to other countries, is enviable. No EU country has as many doctors working the ER as Croatia. We have opened 65 specialisations for emergency medical services across Croatia, only 17 or 18 people applied. No one responded in the city of Split. We will obviously have to do what others are doing, include paramedics in the system.

The minister said he saw no reason to offer his resignation over the case, saying it was “low to use the death of a young man to score political points,” and adding that those in the parliament who called for his resignation know very little about medicine.

When asked how he expects that the people to trust the system, he said he thought the people are mostly happy with the existing system, which achieves results similar to those in other countries.

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