We have restarted the process of building the air ambulance system, which was delayed and led in the wrong direction by the caretaker government. The system will be built taking into account all European rules in this area. This is what the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov said at a briefing today in the Council of Ministers.
‘The caretaker government has tried, through various violations of regulatory documents, to impose this activity on the State Aviation Operator, which is not a commercial company and does not meet the requirements,’ Gvozdeykov stressed. He pointed out that the previous cabinet wanted to build the operational bases for the helicopters on the territory of several hospitals in the country. ‘This is absolutely unacceptable and contrary to the law. The operational base is a site of more than 6 acres, on which the site and the infrastructure must be built to ensure the maintenance of the helicopters, rest areas for personnel, navigation and communication areas, and a fuel-lubricants storage. All this cannot be built on the territory of a hospital,’ the minister explained.
Gvozdeykov said that this process has already been stopped and a new more efficient model is being worked on, where the bases are located in the country in such a way that they cover the requirements for the so called ‘golden hour’ for transporting a victim to a hospital facility. ‘The new distribution of the bases will enable two helicopters to reach every part of the country at the same time,’ Georgi Gvozdeykov stressed.
The Minister explained that 6 operational bases will be built, and the land for four of them has already been secured. ‘We are working as a team with the Ministry of Defence next week to transfer the last two properties to the Ministry of Health to start the public procurement for the construction of the Recovery and Resilience Plan,’ noted Georgi Gvozdeykov. He further added that the first helicopter funded under the Plan is expected to be completed in December 2023, by which time the aviation operator should be prepared and licensed to accept the helicopter.
