Lleida’s emergency medical service, SEM, is launching a new health transport contract for the region’s lowlands tomorrow, replacing all 57 existing ambulances with new, better-equipped vehicles and adding 23 more. That takes the fleet to 80, a 40% increase on the previous contract.
The service says the new model will improve patient care and add 17,060 hours a year of urgent transport. Eight advanced life support ambulances will be available on each shift, five staffed by a doctor and three by a nurse. José Ramón Ropero, SEM’s territorial head, said around 50 new professionals, including six nurses, will join the service.
The advanced life support units will be equipped for on-site ultrasounds and blood tests. Ropero said this could improve patient survival in time-dependent situations. All professionals will also carry individual carbon monoxide detectors, which SEM says will help with quick detection and safe evacuation in dangerous incidents such as fires.
Montse Navarra, SEM’s territorial sub-head, said staff radios now include an anti-panic button. The service says this is intended to improve communication and safety in the event of possible assaults. For more Catalonia health coverage, see our news page.
The number of white non-urgent transport ambulances will rise from 31 to 47. These vehicles will be operated by emergency technicians who will also carry a first-response kit for incidents during transfers. Two multi-purpose ambulances with robotic stretchers, able to move patients weighing up to 230 kg, are also being introduced in Lleida and Tàrrega.
SEM will also deploy health logistics support vans to carry staff, such as doctors and psychologists, and equipment during incidents with multiple casualties, major emergencies or long-duration services. Two of these units will operate in Lleida. A 100% electric shuttle ambulance will also provide short-distance transfers between the Arnau de Vilanova and Santa Maria hospitals.
