Lleida renews fleet, adds 23 ambulances

On June 3, Catalonia’s emergency medical service SEM started a new health transport contract in Lleida’s plain counties with 80 ambulances, replacing the 57 vehicles previously in service. The rollout renews the entire fleet and adds 23 vehicles, according to SEM and the Catalan health department. The increase takes operational capacity in the area up by 40% from the previous contract, Segre reported. The contract had been scheduled to start on April 22 but was delayed because new vehicles had not yet been delivered to the concessionaires, SEM said earlier. ### Why did the fleet change on June 3? On June 3, the new SEM transport model took effect in the comarques del pla de Lleida, the lower-lying counties around the city, after the same contract had already begun in the Pyrenees on May 20. The contract is part of a broader Catalonia-wide renewal of ambulance services running through 2030, with SEM saying the region is deploying more than 1,600 new ambulances across Catalonia. (segre.com) The previous Lleida launch date was April 22, but a SEM spokesperson said in April that the start had to be postponed because of delays in vehicle deliveries. The current operators in the area — Ivemon Ambulancias Egara in the plain counties and Transport Sanitari de Catalunya in the Pyrenees — were set to continue providing the service for five years, Segre reported in April. (segre.com) ### What changes on the street with 80 vehicles instead of 57? The fleet now includes 80 operational ambulances in Lleida’s plain counties, up from 57 under the previous contract. José Ramón Ropero, SEM’s territorial chief, said the change adds about 50 new professionals, including six nurses, and increases urgent transport service by 17,060 hours a year. He said the new model improves care both at patients’ homes and at accident scenes. (segre.com) Non-urgent transport ambulances increased to 47 from 31, Segre reported. Those white vehicles are now staffed by emergency technicians carrying first-response backpacks so they can attend incidents they encounter during transfers. Two new “polivalent” ambulances have also been added in Lleida and Tàrrega with robotic stretchers designed to move patients weighing up to 230 kilograms. (segre.com) SEM has also introduced two health logistics support vans in Lleida for moving personnel, including doctors and psychologists, and equipment during mass-casualty incidents, major emergencies or long-duration responses. ### Which ambulances get the new medical equipment? Eight advanced life-support ambulances on each shift are the most heavily equipped vehicles in the new fleet. Segre reported that five are staffed by a doctor and three by a nurse. Those eight units can perform ultrasounds and on-site blood analysis, allowing crews to advance diagnosis before reaching hospital care. (segre.com) José Ramón Ropero said the added equipment could “greatly improve” survival in time-dependent emergencies. In April, Joan Escorcia, SEM’s head of emergencies, had said the advanced life-support units would be equipped for ultrasounds and dry blood testing using a finger prick. ### What safety and transfer changes come with the new model? (segre.com) Montse Navarra, SEM’s deputy territorial chief, said all professionals now carry individual carbon monoxide detectors. She said the devices allow faster detection and safer evacuation in dangerous situations such as fires. Staff also have radios with a panic button intended to improve communications and worker safety in the event of aggression. (segre.com) SEM has also added a 100% electric “launcher” ambulance for short-distance transfers between Arnau de Vilanova Hospital and Santa Maria Hospital in Lleida, Segre reported. ### What comes next under the contract? The five-year contract runs until 2030, according to SEM’s earlier outline of the new transport model. (segre.com) The June 3 launch in Lleida’s plain counties follows the May 20 start in the Pyrenees and completes the staged regional rollout described by SEM and the Catalan health department. (segre.com)