Health minister: Hospital helipads for air ambulance helicopters to be built in most cities in Bulgaria

Landing and take-off sites for ambulance helicopters close to hospitals will be built in most cities of the country, caretaker Minister of Health Dr. Assen Medzhidiev said in Dobrich on March 17. He dismissed concerns that there would be none in some regions. The public tender under which they will be built is currently being prepared.

The hospital in Veliko Tarnovo is one of the medical institutions in the country that has its own helipad. Not long ago it was still operational.

"This was a great advantage for the patients themselves, as lifesaving treatments in neurosurgery could be received in minutes. We flew to Svishtov for a patient with a brain injury and a fractured skull. The medical team examined the patient, loaded him on the helicopter and at the 60th minute we had already landed," said Dr. Nikolai Moinov, head of Neurosurgery at Veliko Tarnovo Hospital.

It has been specified where the locations of the helipads at the hospitals in the country would be, the caretaker health minister said.

“At the moment we are preparing for the public procurement procedure. The Ministry of Health will build these helipads, but I am waiting for the experts from the Ministry of Transport, from the Ministry of Defence to specify, because they know the exact parameters of where it is best to be located, where it is convenient for the helicopter to land, what size it should be, whether it should be on the ground, hether it should be above the ground," said Dr. Assen Medzhidiev, caretaker minister of health.

The bases from which the helicopters will take off are in Dolna Mitropolia and Sofia. Two helicopters with teams are to be leased very soon, until the arrival of the first purchased one from Italy, in mid-December.