Initially established in 1992 to transport UCLA patients from the newly built Medical Plaza buildings, the UCLA Ambulance Transport Department has grown to include 18 Emergency Medicine Technicians (EMTs), three EMT dispatchers, and a fleet of seven ambulances.

Every day of the week, at any hour, UCLA’s Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units (NICU/PICU) transport team travels to hospitals as far north as Santa Maria and as far south as San Diego. In turn, the Adult Critical Care Transport Team provides advanced life support and critical care transport for the UCLA Hospital System facilities in Westwood and Santa Monica as well as the UCLA Medical Plaza and the UCLA Student Health Clinic.

“To meet the rising need for hospital transport as it continues to climb beyond its present level of 400 to 450 ambulance transports per month, the department is merging its basic life support service with the NICU/PICU team and the CCT team,” says Victor Arteaga, ambulance department supervisor.

To prepare for the anticipated demand for transport services with the opening of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the relocation of some services to Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, increases in personnel, emergency vehicles and medical transport services will take place.

Additionally, Amir Rubin, COO of UCLA Hospital System is developing more efficient means of customer communications and increasing services for patient transport to all UCLA Healthcare facilities.