SMURD

Article summary

SMURD is an emergency rescue service based in Romania. SMURD is a structure subordinated to the Romanian General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU). The name is the Romanian acronym for "Serviciul Mobil de Urgență, Reanimare și Descarcerare", which means Mobile Service for Emergency, Reanimation and Extrication. It was created and has been coordinated since its inception by doctor Raed Arafat. The first SMURD unit was created in Târgu Mureș, a city in the center of Transylvania, in 1990. One of the notable co-founders is a Romanian Firefighter Lt. Col. Mircea Pintilie who coordinated the activity between firebrigades from the three countries, Romania, Norway and Great Britain. In October 1996, the service received legal recognition under the Military Firemen Corps law no.121. Until that date, it served as a national pilot center. Now SMURD is a complementary service, with bases covering many parts of the country, still expanding. It deals with the worst emergency cases, all in a very good collaboration with the regular Ambulance Service (Serviciul de Ambulanţă). Also, HEMS (helicopter emergency medical system) was enforced in six cities (Târgu Mureș, Bucharest, Iași, Arad, Craiova and Constanța), while in other cities the system is only ambulance based. Depending on the situation, police and army helicopters are also being used.…

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