Ambulance fleet doubles.

As of 1 July, 51 new ambulances are on call in Madrid, bringing the city fleets numbers up to 86 vehicles. All 51 are equipped with GPS satellite technology which will allow the SUMMA 112 (Servicio de Urgencia Mdica de Madrid) to limit ambulance response times to a maximum of 30 minutes. Local government health minister, Manuel Lamela, also announced improvements at the SUMMA 112 centre, with the installation by Dec 2006 of new transport control digital technology costing 3.5million. Medical transport for non-emergency cases is also to be reinforced with the addition of 122 vehicles to the current fleet of 385 over the next four years. Currently Madrid ambulances transport an average of 1.3million urgent cases per year.