DYA de Barakaldo
The DYA is an
organization started in Bilbao in the late 60's by a Doctor Uzparicha to bring
urgent care to those injured on the highways in the Basque Country. Now it has
grown to be an international organization that brings urgent care to people on
the roads, in their houses, and in their place of work. The majority of the members
of the DYA are volunteer, this includes doctors, nurses, EMT's, and ambulance
drivers. Yes in Spain and most of Europe there exists the "ambulance driver"
whose sole purpose is to drive the ambulance. Delegations of the DYA and Red
Cross, both volunteer organizations, form a network of emergency response
ambulances that respond to most all calls made to 112 requesting an ambulance.
Most ambulances of the DYA and Red Cross are basic life support only unless they
have a doctor on-board. When someone calls 112 for an ambulance, they are
interviewed by a doctor to determine what type of service they require. In some
cases they will be referred to an ambulatory care center or a GP will be sent to
their house to evaluate them. In calls of a potentially urgent or emergent
nature, they
will be sent an ambulance from the DYA or Red Cross. If it's especially
critical, they will be sent 1 of 4 UVI-Móviles
(mobile ICU) complete with doctor, nurse, and driver and maybe an additional BLS
ambulance from the DYA or Red Cross.
There are
approximately 10-12 staffed volunteer ambulances of the Red Cross and the DYA
for the province of Vizcaya. There are also 4-5 Uvi-Móviles
available for calls of a critical nature. Private ambulances are also used by
hospitals and nursing homes to transport patients. These private ambulances
usually only have a driver that may or may not be medically trained who simply
loads the patient in the back and goes to the hospital.
All
ambulance runs in Vizcaya are Code 3 (lights and siren) regardless of the
patient condition but with the theory that they can get the ambulance back in
service quicker.
The DYA of Barakaldo
is one of the delegations in Vizcaya and is where Andrew volunteered some of his
time to see how EMS works in Spain. Make sure to visit their page by clicking
the logo below:
Click on any
picture to enlarge.
(Note:
The top 4 photos are from the most recent visit to Spain in December 2002)
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Ambulances from all the delegations of the DYA in Vizcaya. |
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Dr. Usparicha, founder of the DYA, appears next to the first ambulance of the DYA. |
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Close-up of the first ambulance of the DYA |
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The newest ambulance (Number 82) |
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Ambulance responding from station |
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Night shift (Andrew on far right) |
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European stretcher system |
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Stretchers mounts on moveable platform that allows for easing one-person loading and unloading. |
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The stretcher can also be moved up and down, side to side while transporting patient. |
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Volunteers of the DYA (Andrew in middle, after dislocating shoulder) |
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Showing the equipment (Andrew on right) |
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Putting the stretcher back in the ambulance |
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