President Marcelo says he hopes to hear government’s plans for health service fixing
A second INEM helicopter has been scrambled to boost the country’s parlous nighttime cover when it comes to medical emergencies.
Following uproar that ensued when it became clear the government had handed ‘emergency medical transport’ to a company that wasn’t ready to provide it (Gulf Med Aviation Services has not got either the helicopters necessary, or the pilots available to fly them), defence minister Nuno Melo said a second helicopter would be provided ‘soon’. That has now happened.
Speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony at the Social Support Center of IASFA – Institute of Social Action of the Armed Forces, in Lisbon, he said the helicopter will be presented today in Ovar, district of Aveiro, and will be a UH-60 Black Hawk (see below).
He added that this actually brings the number of air resources available 24 hours a day for medical emergencies to four: two helicopters (the Black Hawk and the Merlin EH-101 stationed in Montijo) and two planes.
The problem with these solutions, however, is that they remain aircraft that cannot land easily on hospital helicopter landing pads, as they are either far too big and heavy (the Black Hawk and the Merlin) or aeroplanes that require landing strips.
Nonetheless, Nuno Melo referred to the country’s feeling of “gratitude” to the Air Force for the role it has played in this medical emergency, stressing that the resources offered are “neither for business nor for interest.”
All that being said, the situation is still a long way from being ‘ideal’ (ideal would be simple helicopters, of the type specified in the tender awarded to Gulf Med…)
As a result, the pressure on the government, particularly the Minister of Health, to fix serious problems remains.
President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has said that he expects to hear the Government’s plan for the organisation and resources of the state health service, into the future.
“It’s crucial to know how it will be organised, how it will work, because it’s a four-year government and it’s a four-year plan that’s important to hear from the government,” he told reporters in Lisbon yesterday.
Marcelo declined to comment on Ana Paula Martins’ performance, advising people to “wait and see” what she actually says.
The minister went onto SIC television’s Jornal de Noite programme last night for a wide-ranging interview, in which she insists she is in the role for the long-term.
The Black Hawk helicopters are part of a purchase organised by PS Socialists, and are intended for fire-fighting.
source material: LUSA
