Emergency Medical Helicopters to Cover the Country for First Time

The Ministry of Health will put in place this month for the first time an emergency medical helicopter, which will provide emergency assistance covering the entire Croatian coast…

There will be two bases for the emergency helicopters – in Dalmatia in Split, and on the island of Krk in the northern Adriatic. The helicopters and medical crews will be ready to go in 3 minutes after receiving a call out, meaning they will be able to respond to emergencies within the so-called ‘golden hour’, and also quickly attend emergency calls such as heart attacks and strokes, the Ministry said on Thursday. Helicopters from the Split base will cover Dalmatia, whilst from Krk they can support Dalmatia and to the east of the country in Slavonija.

Initially the emergency medical helicopter will be a 4-month pilot programme, using two rented helicopters equipped to give emergency medical assistance.

Italian companies EliFriulia and Air Green will manage the flying staff, hangars and service teams after winning the contract. Their bid, the Ministry says, was 25% cheaper than the other two offers.

The medical staff will be provided by the Croatian Institute of Emergency Medicine.

Currently the Croatian Air Force helicopters attend around 500 accidents per year.

“Our intention is that after these four months we very quickly establish a permanent emergency helicopter model in order to help our people and tourists throughout the year and to ensure the availability of quality emergency medical care,” said the Ministry of Health.