A demonstration exercise was held at the Dubrovnik General Hospital helipad on the occasion of the beginning of the year-round helicopter emergency medical service in the southernmost Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

“Without this service, it would be impossible for a patient to reach a medical institution in Dubrovnik or Split within 60 minutes, where they can be given adequate medical help to save their life. The service will operate throughout the year. Residents of our county will now have the same conditions as other Croatian and EU citizens,” said county head Nikola Dobroslavic.

He noted that under a long-term government programme, the service should be based in Opuzen, however, technical conditions for it had still not been created.

“A helidrome and accompanying facilities need to be built. For the time being, the service will be based at Dubrovnik Airport,” he said.

The head of the Croatian Institute for Emergency Medicine, Maja Grba-Bujevic, said that over the past five years it had become evident that the helicopter emergency medical service needs to operate throughout the year and not just during the summer tourist season.

She said that with helicopter emergency medical service bases on the island of Krk, at Divulje near Split, and at Dubrovnik, the entire country was now covered with that service.

By the end of the year, 24 doctors and 28 nurses will be involved in the helicopter emergency medical service project and they will work in weekly shifts, she said.

The project in Dubrovnik-Neretva County is financed by the ministries of the interior and health and the county authorities.