Minister for the Interior Roman Mikulec and Minister for Health Vladimir Lengvarsky signed a joint memorandum of cooperation. Both ministers showed a common will to create by the end of 2026 a single aviation service to perform the tasks of the Integrated Rescue System (ICS), whose Gesture will be MV SR. The service will fulfil the tasks and needs of the aviation activities of the Police Corps, Fire and Rescue Corps, Mountain Rescue Service and operate helicopter rescue services throughout Slovakia.
The availability of the aid from the air will be guaranteed in full by the state, which will ensure the substitutability of the individual emergency forces throughout Slovakia as well as critical infrastructure elements. The operation of the joint squadron will result in a historical recovery of aviation equipment, especially helicopters for helicopter rescue services, Mountain Rescue Service, Fire and Rescue Corps and Police Corps. The construction of selected common helicopter bases will also occur, explained Minister of Interior Roman Mikulec. Both parties to the memorandum undertook to carry out a study on the feasibility of reorganization and development of the MV SR Aerospace Unit and the operation of helicopter emergency medical services under the heading of the Aerospace Unit MV SR and to present this study for the discussion of the Government of the Slovak Republic by September 2022. If the government approves a study carried out by the MV SR and the Health Section of MZ SR together with the Institute of Health Analysis of MZ SR, the Department of Interior will also include an order for the purchase of helicopters in the specification
At the same time, by linking aviation rescue activities under a single roof organisation, it is envisaged to save resources from the state budget and from public health insurance. If, on the basis of a study carried out by the State, a decision is taken to launch a joint squadron, the helicopter rescue service at the Ministry of Health will be carried out by the current operator of the company AIR - TRANSPORT EUROPE, spol. s.r.o. on the basis of a valid authorisation, said Minister of Health Vladimír Lengvarský. This memorandum follows on from the Programme Statement of the Government of the Slovak Republic, in which the government committed to ensure the comprehensive development of the life-saving components of the integrated rescue system, the technological development of their coordination and operational centres and their cooperation to achieve adequate preparedness and to enable the response of rescue forces to the most appropriate intervention and life-saving of the injured.
Foto: Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic