The establishment of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service is a major step forward in improving access to and the quality of patient-oriented healthcare, it was said.
"Croatia has waited long for this project to become a reality and for good reason, because it is indeed a complex project with significant funding. But Croatia needs the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, our citizens and our patients need it," Health Minister Vili Beroš said.
The public procurement procedure related to the coastal helicopter bases at Rijeka and Split and the continental bases at Zagreb and Osijek.
An Italian-Spanish-Croatian consortium of EliFriulia S.p.A., Eliance Helicopter Global Services, S.L. and Eli-Adriatik d.o.o. has been selected for all the bases.
Two Airbus H145 helicopters, which can carry up to eight persons, will be used for the coastal bases and two smaller Airbus EC135 helicopters for the continental bases.
The contracts are planned for a period of seven years, and the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service is expected to be fully operational in the second quarter of 2024.