Today, March 17, the Government supported a joint initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Health to create a Single Aeromedical Space, which will include the introduction of an aeromedical evacuation system and air transportation of anatomical materials of recipients.
The main priority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has always been and is the life and health of Ukrainians. For this purpose, a large-scale project was launched to create a Unified System of Aviation Security and Civil Protection, which is the result of work with France and Airbus. The creation of the Unified Aeromedical Space is fully consistent with the concept of aviation development of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that this is a completely new level of emergency medical care, in which a person will receive medical care or be taken to a medical institution from any, even the most remote, part of the country. The second component of this program is support for domestic transplantology. This is the branch of medicine where success critically depends, in particular, on the speed of delivery of the recipient or organ to the site of surgery.
Arsen Avakov said that at the first stage of the pilot implementation of aeromedical evacuation, new modern Airbus H-145 helicopters will be involved, which will be based in the cities of Lviv and Kyiv.
"The unified system of aviation security and civil protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has reached a new level. Today, the Cabinet of Ministers supported the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to create a Single Aeromedical Space of Ukraine: together with the Ministry of Health, we are launching a system of aeromedical evacuation and support of transplantation by the Ministry of Aviation. As early as April 1, we are launching a pilot project in the Lviv region - 7 regions: Lviv, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Rivne, Ternopil and Chernivtsi oblasts. And from May 1, we are already connecting the Kyiv region, it will provide assistance to Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv regions and the city of Kyiv. Today, two helicopter bases are fully operational - in Lviv and Kyiv. Then the air medical evacuation system will cover the whole of Ukraine.
Thus, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and with the support of our French partners, we are reviving sanaviation, which until now existed only theoretically. At the first stage, at least 7 million Ukrainians will be able to get the fastest possible access to medical care in situations that threaten their lives and health, "said the Interior Minister.
The introduction of the pilot project will allow working out the mechanisms of interaction between the aviation units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and medical institutions, to gain practical experience for scaling this project throughout Ukraine.
Given that time is critical to providing emergency medical care, the response time to a helicopter flight will be 5 to 30 minutes, depending on the circumstances.
This project is the first step for the full launch of the aeromedical evacuation system throughout Ukraine.
We will remind, the Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov declared that in 2021 the Ministry of Internal Affairs launches two large-scale projects - system of aeromedical evacuation and reforming of hydrometeorological service of the State Emergency Service.
Arsen Avakov also said that the Aviation Security System will be fully operational in Ukraine by the end of the year.
You can watch the video at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfpHwUz1vsU