"The air rescue base at Szentes, Csongrád county was officially opened by Health Minister Tamás Székely on Monday. Some Ft 40 million of the Ft 100 million investment project was awarded by local authorities. The new facility could considerably improve emergency health care in south Hungary.A major task of the service is to ensure that rescue helicopters fly seriously injured or ill people to the closest hospital to receive medical treatment. The air base has been operating since December 28 but not for transporting patients.
So far seven bases have been completed; at Szentes, Budapest, Sármellék, Miskolc, Debrecen, Pécs and Balatonfüred. The network of such bases will be completed when those at Szekszárd and Pápa are opened. Székely said Ft 11 billion from EU funding will be spent on upgrading the ground-based and air rescue services.
The proportion of areas reached by rescue helicopters has now risen from 60% to 85%, Magyar Hírlap observes. At all times four people will be on call at Szentes: a pilot, a doctor, a rescue officer and a technical expert. Funds to keep the base open are available for only one month, Kossuth Rádió reported."
Source: Hungary Around the Clock.
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06.01.2009