In 2024, the province of Alicante’s Emergency Information and Coordination Centre (CICU) received 259,869 calls from residents seeking emergency assistance or medical attention. This number supplements the 350,958 in Valencia and 79,529 in Castellón that are managed by this agency, which answers to the Ministry of Health. In the Valencian Community, around 690,356 calls were received overall.

The CICU reports that 237,515 calls, or 34.4% of the total, were for a health emergency, and 102,464 calls, or 14.8% of the total, were for a medical emergency. Additionally, 181,549 calls, or 26.2%, were for urgent unsupported and secondary medical transport (between hospitals), and 10.9% of calls were for medical consultations, precisely 75,537. The remaining 101,928 calls, or 14.7% of the total, were related to alerts or consultations on incidents of some kind.

As a result, the number of calls received at the CICUs has increased by 2.4% in comparison to the prior year. Of the 637,756 calls in 2023, 342,641 were for incidents in Valencia, 249,313 in Alicante, and 81,802 in Castellón, according to the data.

Similarly, in 2024, there were an average of 1,886 calls per day in the CICUs, compared to 1,846 calls per day on average in 2023.

In order to address any urgent or emergency health situation that may arise in the Valencian Community, the Department of Health’s Emergency Information and Coordination Centres are manned by medical coordinators, nursing staff, announcers, and health documentation technicians around-the-clock, every day of the year.

Everyday medical transportation

In order to provide medical transport in response to these emergency requests, the Autonomous Community’s emergency medical trucks were frequently called upon. In actuality, the province of Alicante performed 144,933 services.

Overall, 398,672 transfers were made across the three provinces. In addition to those in Alicante, there are 56,344 in Castellón and 197,395 in Valencia. This averages 1,089 transfers per day. When an emergency occurs, the CICU requests the mobilization of the most appropriate healthcare resource based on the type of emergency, taking into account the priority of the call or the underlying pathology. Thus, for emergency care, the Emergency Medical Assistance Service (SAMU) units performed 68,794 services, representing 188 daily mobilizations.

The Nursing Advanced Life Support (ALS) vehicles performed 5,376 operations, with an average of 15 daily services. For their part, Basic Life Support (BLS) units performed 288,449 calls throughout the year, with an average of 788 calls per day. And in the case of non-assisted transport ambulances, which typically transport patients, they performed 36,053 calls, representing an average of 99 calls per day.

Tips in case of an emergency

The CICU has reminded everyone that in the event of any medical emergency, the emergency number 112 must be called immediately. They insist that it is essential to remain calm and respond quickly and concisely to the brief questionnaire provided by the operators to ensure optimal management of the call. It is also important to provide the precise address of the location of the emergency, indicate the sex and approximate age of each patient, as well as any other known information (illnesses or medical history) in order to facilitate medical care.