After a continual campaign lasting almost a decade, including the collection of 4,000 signatures in support of the move, residents of Crevillente will now be protected by a 24-hour ambulance service.
It was in 2013 that the Ministry of Health cut this service, which since then was only available for half a day, that is, from ten in the morning to ten at night.
Beyond those hours, at night the ambulances ‘slept’ in Elche, which meant an obviously higher response time to attend to any health emergency. Now the transfer time is reduced, under normal circumstances, to just a maximum of five or ten minutes to any part of the municipal area, around the clock.
“This achievement is due to many meetings and reports and a constant fight with the Ministry of Health. We are very satisfied, although the ideal would have been that they had never removed this service from Crevillente“, says the Mayor, José Manuel Penalva.
The new acquisition is a Basic Life Support (SVB)-type medical vehicle, that is, medicalised with personnel and the necessary equipment to attend to and stabilise the patient if necessary.
The Non-Assistance Transport ambulance (TNA) that was already on duty in Crevillente for twelve hours a day is maintained, so from now on there will be two medical vehicles parked in the town every day. There are also a couple of SAMUs -ambulances equipped with a doctor- that cover the area from Elche. When a citizen calls 112 to request help for an emergency, it is the Emergency Information and Coordination Centre (CIUC) who decides which one should go to attend to it.
It should be noted that all these ambulances are on duty to cover the entire health department. Therefore, the new SVB stationed in Crevillente can also attend emergencies in Elche, Aspe or Hondón de los Frailes.
