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Alicante, Spain, Aug, 2021 -- Workers' union UGT in Alicante is demanding reinforcements at the province's Information and Coordination Centre (CICU), claiming the Covid pandemic has overwhelmed the service with just two members of staff having to dealing with calls from an inflated summer population of 2.7 million people.

"Covid and the increase in floating population in the summer season makes it essential to reinforce professionals in the CICU of Alicante, given the high number of calls received," warns Rosa Queijas, the UGT's general secretary at the General Hospital of Alicante.

The union has written to the Valencia region's Ministry of Health pointing out that the CICU is operating on skeletal staff, having to take calls and coordinate 54 ambulances, with just one member staff on in the mornings and another in the afternoons.

"Even one more operator would help as two call handlers have recently left and there has been an unfilled vacancy for some time," says Queijas, adding that the workload is currently "unsustainable" with the added pressure of Covid cases and an average of two calls per minute.

Despite the operators' "extensive experience", the union representative said they finish their shifts "in tears" due to the "stress and enormous pressure to get everything done, knowing other people's lives depend on them".

At the start of the pandemic, additional staff were hired to handle a surge in calls, but this Covid reinforcement was not extended at the end of May.

"This was despite the approaching summer when the service goes from caring for 1.9 million people to 2.7 million, in addition to an increase in infections, which even though they are not serious, people still call the emergency number for assistance," adds Queijas.

The region's Ministry of Health has raised the possibility of centralising the service in Valencia, claiming this would reduce ambulance response times, but the CICU has argued the service is better handled by experienced staff who know the area, to avoid ambulances being sent to the wrong address, and that the best solution "is additional staff".

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Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: https://murciatoday.com

Date Posted: Tuesday, August 3, 2021