SAMUR (''Servicio de Asistencia Municipal de Urgencia y Rescate'') is a specialized emergency system of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is composed of the central base, 17 operative bases and 190 vehicles.

History

The starting point and deployment of the original structure was created by Simón Viñals Pérez in 1989 (former Madrid Health Counselor from 1989 to 2003), under the presidency of

Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún (Ávila, Spain, Ávila, 27 March 1932 – Paris, 13 October 1991) was a Spanish politician and businessman as well as being a doctor in economics and law who was best known as being the mayor of Madrid from 1989 to 1 ...

. The first director of SAMUR and a key figure in the development was

José Luis Gilarranz Dr. José Luis Gilarranz (1954, Madrid - 20 February 2009) was a key figure in the development of rapid deployment systems for use in medical emergencies. Career His first job was as a lifeguard at the sporting facilities operated by the City of ...

. New uniforms were designed and better selection and learning methods introduced. The pilot project started in June 1991 with the help of the former Mayor of Madrid,

José María Álvarez del Manzano José María Álvarez del Manzano y López del Hierro (born 17 October 1937) is a Spanish politician for the People's Party. Although born in Seville he has lived in Madrid since he was 3 years old. He studied at the Jesuit Colegio Nuestra Se� ...

. Once the success of the pilot was achieved, in December 1992, the service started.

Function

The main objective is to solve efficiently the medical emergencies that could arise in the streets, inside the Madrid metropolitan area. Samur also assumes the leading role in the management of terrorist attacks or catastrophes. Their effort was remarkable in the terrorist events developed in Madrid on 11 March 2004, during the

2004 Madrid train bombings The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's ...

. They were also deployed to the accident involving

Spanair Flight 5022 Spanair Flight 5022 (JK5022/JKK5022) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Barcelona–El Prat Airport to Gran Canaria Airport, Spain, with a stopover in Madrid–Barajas Airport that crashed just after take-off from runway 36L at ...

External links

SAMUR

Madrid emergency news
{{Authority control Emergency services in Spain Medical and health organisations based in Spain Government of Madrid

History

Function

See also

External links