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ARCHIVED - Bid for 24-hour emergency ambulance service in Orihuela Costa is rejected
A proposal by Orihuela residents’ association in the Vega Baja, Alicante province, has been deemed “unfeasible”
Orihuela Costa will not have a 24-hour Urgent Medical Assistance Service (SAMU) after the Valencian government threw out proposals put forward by the neighborhood association Orihuela Costa en Acción (Avoca), for an extension to the emergency resources.
The ambulance service is currently in operation for 12 hours each day, meaning in the event of an emergency, medical teams must travel from elsewhere, causing concerning delays in urgent response times.
Avoca wanted to take advantage of the imminent opening of the new Orihuela Costa Emergency Centre, and put forward proposals for a SAMU base at the facility, which would be available 24 hours, seven days a week.
But despite receiving huge support, the bid was rejected by the region’s Ministry of Health, which claims an extension is “unfeasible”, and that the current cover from Torrevieja and Pilar de la Horadada, both within 12km of Orihuela Costa, is sufficient.
The unfeasibility report states that “the Basic Life Support units (BLS) and Advanced Life Support units, ALS and SAMU, are not municipal services and their management and coordination is performed exclusively by the Emergency Information and Coordination Centre (CICU), which, depending on the severity of the incident, the availability of resources and the distance to the site of the emergency, mobilises the most appropriate health resources.”
It adds that “the SVB and SAMU assistance units are never assigned exclusively to a specific territorial area.”
The department has instead assured “improvements in the contract for urgent and non-urgent medical transport in the geographical area of Orihuela” will be made.
Meanwhile, a motion will be presented at the next plenary session of Orihuela Council, demanding that the health department provide a 24-hour SAMU service, stating that the regional government is clearly “not taking into account the basic health needs of the residents of Orihuela”.
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