“What is important is that, when it was necessary, the Air Force stepped forward and the doctors from the Armed Forces are helping to save lives,” emphasized Nuno Melo on the sidelines of a conference on security in Europe, held in Lisbon.
Despite the government’s announcement that, from July 1, emergency aeromedical transport would be provided 24 hours a day by the four helicopters of the Portuguese Air Force, complementing the service of the two means immediately provided by the company that won the public tender, the military only has one aircraft available for night missions.
The available helicopter is “one of the two Merlin EH 101s stationed at the Montijo airbase,” with the other three “not authorized to fly at night.”
Nuno Melo assured, however, that the Air Force’s efforts “are carried out with modern equipment, with all the necessary conditions, with prepared and qualified doctors, and with what is possible during the day, and at night, if possible.”
Furthermore, he emphasized, “medical emergencies during these months in which the Air Force will be involved will be handled with helicopters, but also with fixed-wing aircraft.”
On the first day of the Air Force’s collaboration, the minister stated, “four medical emergency actions were carried out in cooperation with INEM.”
Therefore, he prefers to focus “on the virtue, on what is an example that the Portuguese should appreciate,” acknowledging, however, that “all means are always scarce in all circumstances.”
The minister also suggested that the criticisms towards the Air Force might have hidden agendas, recalling that for “many years” this military branch has been conducting medical emergencies in the Azores and Madeira.
“So the Portuguese Air Force, which conducts medical emergencies in the Azores and Madeira, experienced and with all evidence of its quality, now would not be able to do so on the mainland? It seems to me a bit absurd and ridiculous,” he remarked, concluding that “it’s necessary to see the source and the reason” for the criticisms.
