Portugal: Airforce helicopters begin medical transportation
Lisbon: The Air Force began emergency medical transport today with four helicopters available 24 hours a day, a temporary operation that also involves two aircraft from the company Gulf Med, which will only operate during the day.
The involvement of the Portuguese Air Force (FAP) in emergency medical transport was announced on Thursday by the government, claiming that this was the solution found until the contract between the National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM) and Gulf Med, the company to which the service was granted, obtained approval from the Court of Auditors (TdC).
On Monday afternoon, the TdC announced that it had given the ‘green light’ to the contract in question, but INEM said that the granting of the approval “still presupposes some procedures” that made it impossible for its execution to begin today.
In practice, the operation of the Medical Emergency Helicopter Service (SHEM) will be guaranteed by four helicopters and medical teams from the FAP, which will operate 24 hours a day and will be activated through the Urgent Patient Guidance Center (CODU) of the INEM.
In addition to these four FAP aircraft, Gulf Med will ensure, starting today, through a direct agreement until the contract comes into effect, two Airbus helicopters, which will be located at the Macedo de Cavaleiros and Loulé bases, but which will only operate during the day (12 hours a day).
These helicopters will have SAMU teams on board and allow boarding through the back doors, which facilitates patient safety and speeds up the operation, emphasizes the Malta-based company.
The international public tender was launched in November 2024 and the final decision to award the contract to Gulf Med was announced in March of this year, foreseeing the operation of four helicopters that will be located at the INEM bases in Macedo de Cavaleiros, Viseu, Évora and Loulé between July 2025 and the end of 2030.
Gulf Med also said that the investment in the four Airbus H145 helicopters was 40 million euros and that it also intends to develop the training of Portuguese pilots and create a certified training organization in Portugal.
INEM clarified that the start of the provision of services through the company that had won the tender – which included the four helicopters from July 1 – will be done “gradually”, to comply with “all the requirements of European aviation legislation, essentially related to ensuring the safety of the operation”.
In a statement, the Civil Aviation Pilots Union (SPAC) rejected the idea of involving the FAP in the operation of emergency medical helicopters, claiming that it constitutes a “whitewashing maneuver that does not resolve the structural problems identified months ago”.
The FAP did not respond to questions from the Lusa news agency about the characteristics of the helicopters that will guarantee the emergency air transport service from today and where the bases for these aircraft will be located.
