Ambulance service had own operations centre during deadly wildfire

The ambulance service ran its own operations centre when the wildfire which tore through the Limassol district and killed two people broke out in July and was not asked to join the central coordination centre until later in the afternoon of the first day of the fire, MPs heard on Thursday.

Service representative Theodosis Theodosiou told a joint session of the House agriculture, environment and interior committees that they activated their own operations centre from the moment they had been notified of the fire.

“I personally was at the fire service advanced centre [in Malia]. From the first moment, we had ambulances in the villages, and we activated a team that undertook the pre-hospital work. In this framework, additional ambulances were sent in,” Theodosiou explained.

Once things got worse, the centre was moved to Erimi, where the staff treated various cases and transferred serious ones to hospitals, including four to the burns clinic in Nicosia.

“It was our duty towards the people. It was an emergency. Additional staff were called in and we were ready in case the situation deteriorated,” Theodosiou said.

The ambulance service followed its contingency plan. “For us, the situation was manageable,” Theodosiou added.