THE PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMERGENCY SERVICE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Emergency medical care is one of the most complex and expensive types of medical care provided to the population. The significance of the development of ambulance services in the Russian Federation is due to the large role of this type of medical care in maintaining the health, and often the life of the population. The current situation in the industry is characterized by the lack of infrastructure necessary for emergency medical care, the deficit of which is exacerbated in regions and districts of the country remote from economic centers. The study examined the existing ambulance service in the Russian Federation in the context of the presence of systemic problems caused by industry specifics based on the analysis of development indicators of the ambulance service in the Russian Federation, identified prevailing trends and their causes. It was established that despite the general tendency towards an increase in the number of ambulance hospitals and beds in them by 2018 relative to the 2014 level, the average capacity of one hospital decreased by 1.5% over 5 years. In turn, the number of ambulance stations for 5 years decreased by 14.3%, amounting to 2,276 in 2018. As a result, we can say that today there is a reduction in the capacity of the ambulance service of the Russian Federation, as a result of which there is a deterioration in its performance. Given the trends identified during the study, the comprehensive improvement of the emergency medical care system in the Russian Federation is an important social task, the implementation of which will increase the effectiveness of the functioning of the emergency medical service in the Russian Federation.