The Croatian Minister of Health Dr. Vili Berosh, says that he will never forget that early Sunday morning and the sadness that he and his family felt when they received the news of the accident in Slavonski Brod. Dr. Berosh, told how the sense of the doctor gave him more strength to mobilize and come to the aid of the injured and all others who suffered in Sunday’s accident. Led by the Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković, the Croatian state mobilized all required task forces in order to take control of the situation. And Croatia managed to do it.
KosovaPress, exclusively interviewed the Minister of Health Dr. Vili Berosh and we initially asked him:
Interviewed by Fadil MIFTARI
KosovaPress: The extraordinary mobilization of the Croatian authorities to come to the aid of the injured, here in Kosovo resembles something similar to the support that Croatia gave to the people of Kosovo in 1999. What message would you send to the people of Kosovo in these difficult times?
Dr. Berosh: First and foremost, I would like to express my condolences to the people of Kosovo for a devastating tragedy that utterly shocked both of our nations. I am appalled and stunned by the magnitude of this disaster, as a medical doctor and a human being. My thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost loved ones, and all those affected by this horrific catastrophe. Both of our countries are not strangers to the worst of times that made our nations known for big strength and big hearts. I wholeheartedly believe that we will prevail this big loss together.
KosovaPress: Please can you describe to us the moment when you first faced the consequences of the accident?
Dr. Berosh: I will never forget that early Sunday morning and the sadness my family and I felt when we received the news. My immediate impulse was to help, travel to Slavonski Brod and lead the medical efforts on the ground for the passengers and all affected by the crash. I first got a call from Croatian Institute of Emergency Medicine who insured expedient arrival to the point of the crash. Along with the Croatia’s PM Andrej Plenković, we mobilized all required task forces in order to take control of the situation.
KosovaPress: How did you manage to mobilize the health system in record time to come to the aid of the injured?
Dr. Berosh: Every member of the health care system needs to be prepared for any type of accident or incident, every day. This is our calling. Through continuous education and conducting courses for medical response to a mass accident, we have been preparing for similar situations for years. Therefore, we reacted according to the standard protocol – Medical Response to Major Incidents – MRMI, which included rapid mobilization of the entire system. However, this is something to be expected. What I couldn’t pre-empt is the amount of sympathy, solidarity, and sensibility displayed from all our health care professionals towards our friends from Kosovo. I specially take pride in ensuring first comforting words in the mother tongue of the affected passengers. For that I’m deeply thankful to the Ambassador of Kosovo in Croatia Gezim Kasapolli, and other native speakers that live here in Croatia.
KosovaPress: Not a single injured person died in hospital. What do you think about this, was it luck or the great work of the professionals (health staff)?
Dr. Berosh: It’s not luck, but a standard trained medical response to a mass accident. The hospital in Slavonski Brod is a training center for medical response to major accidents under the program of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia since 2014.
KosovaPress: If it’s possible to ask you a kind of political question. There is a saying “the case heroizes the people”, while in this case “the Croatian state is the hero”, does this reflect the strong friendship between the two peoples?
Dr. Berosh: This isn’t a political matter, but a human matter, where the size of our hearts and greatness of the friendship between Croatia and Kosovo has more value than any other motivation. I was brought up and educated to help people, and I have given an oath, which I continue to live by as the health minister and as a human being. Therefore, Croatia mourns and stands by the people of Kosovo, as any individual would.
