The North-East Local Health Unit is conducting operations to land INEM helicopters in Bragança hospitals
The goal is to ensure “in the shortest possible time” that the INEM helicopter operating in the area since the beginning of the year is operational.
The North-East Local Health Unit (ULSNE) reported today that operating authorization processes for larger aircraft are underway at heliports in Bragança and Mirandela.
The goal is to ensure “in the shortest possible time” that the INEM helicopter operating in the area since the beginning of the year is operational.
Certification is required by the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), “thus complying with the usual procedures related to the evaluation of these infrastructures, taking into account the standards and recommended practices in this field,” ULSNE said in a statement sent in response. Losa, who questioned the entity responsible for managing the health units in the region regarding the current restrictions on air transportation of medical emergencies in the Bragança region.
Since 3 January, an emergency medical helicopter, AW139, of larger size and greater autonomy, previously located at Évora and which replaced the former A109S at Trassus Montes, has been made available.
As Thiago Faria Lopez, president of the Civil Aviation Pilots Association (SPAC), explained to the Lusa newspaper, the AW139 has “neither the size nor the weight” to land on the helipads it was given, which do not have the necessary certification.
In the same statement, ULSNE considered this an “important investment” to ensure “in the shortest possible time the conditions necessary for the operation of the new emergency air transport aircraft in the airport infrastructure adjacent to the emergency medical services – surgery in the Bragança region.”
“ULS do Nordeste continues to work in accordance with safety standards (…) to ensure the best conditions for the provision of health care to the population, developing, in this sense, measures that are also considered necessary with regard to preconditions for work. Hospital emergency resources, from the perspective of clarifying resources and services in the field of health “, as stated in the statement.
In Mirandela, the previous, smaller helicopter could only land during the day, due to the lack of a safety certificate to do so at night.
Mirandela Council, contacted by Lusa, said the county hospital's helipad is “an essential tool in the speed of the health response for the residents of the county and the region” and explained that it had made the Regenord artificial field available for landing.
The municipality also said in a written note that, in partnership with local volunteer firefighters, they are “ensuring the availability of the alternative landing site for the INEM helicopter around the clock.”
“This solution offered by the municipality adds about 3 minutes (1.6 km) to the arrival/departure time of Mirandela Hospital,” the municipality explained.
Another alternative offered is a municipal airport, which “increases response time to airborne emergencies by approximately 6 minutes (4.5 km).”
In Bragança, the landing took place at the municipal airport, a 15-minute drive away, plus the time needed to transfer the patient between the hospital, the ambulance and the plane, adding 20 minutes in total to the assistance provided, according to SPAC.
The AW139 helicopter is also unable to land, according to SPAC, at the Massarelos helipad in Porto.
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