Critical Ambulance Delay

A three month old baby died on Monday at the Altabix health centre in Elche, with many people blaming the 20 minute wait for an emergency ambulance as a contributing factor in the death.

The baby had suffered heart problems and was in a serious condition at the clinic prompting calls for the paramedics to attend, but as the only paramedic unit in service was already busy, the nearest available ambulance was in Alicante.

It is claimed that the ambulance arrived 20 minutes after the first call, although the department of health are disputing this, saying that the ambulance did not come from Alicante, it was local, and the response time was just 12 minutes.

Elche normally has 2 emergency ambulances but one of them is transferred to Santa Pola for the summer, a move which the local government are trying to stop.