Haría City Council denounces the lack of urgent medical transport coverage that the municipality suffers, given the fact that the basic life support ambulance based in the town of Arrieta, which serves the northern area, is not operational and has not been replaced.
The mayor of Haría, Alfredo Villalba, demands that the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands “audit the current contracting of the service and that, if these incidents are confirmed, the corresponding penalties be applied to the awarded company, with the aim of guaranteeing a safe and effective urgent health service for the entire population of northern Lanzarote.” Villalba indicates that, currently, the company “continues to provide the service in a period outside the extension of the tender.”
Villalba insists that “situations like the one we are experiencing cannot be repeated. It is not admissible for an entire municipality to be left without ambulance coverage to attend to emergencies that the local community, as well as visitors and tourists in Haría, may suffer”.
For his part, the Councillor for Health, Marcos Lemes, shows his concern about this situation, after workers and residents have warned that the north of the island has been unattended for four days. “In addition to the historical shortcomings suffered by the north of the island in terms of emergency resources, now we find ourselves with an even more serious situation, the absence of effective coverage of urgent health transport,” he points out.
“We are talking about an essential service, it cannot be allowed for the northern zone to be left without an emergency ambulance. Every minute counts when a critical situation arises, and forcing a health vehicle to have to travel from Arrecife puts our neighborhood at risk,” adds Lemes.
This circumstance forces the Emergency and Security Coordinating Center 112 to activate an ambulance from Arrecife in the event of any incident. The displacement implies a considerable increase in response times and a vital risk for people who require urgent attention.
In this regard, the City Council emphasizes that it will continue monitoring and demanding the necessary solutions so that Haría has the emergency resources that its population deserves.