Guimarães, Portugal, July 7, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Pre-Hospital Emergency Society (SPEPH) warned on Monday that it is “clinically more appropriate” to transport a patient by ambulance when the air response time exceeds the estimated ground transport time.
“When the total air response time exceeds the estimated ground transport time, clinicians consider it more appropriate and safer to transport the patient by road, thereby providing effective and timely assistance,” the SPEPH said in a statement.
The agency commented on the case of a 49-year-old patient with a head injury, and an Air Force helicopter transported him in a process that took more than five hours to transfer him from Covilhã Hospital to Coimbra University Hospitals.
According to SPEPH, the decision between air and ground transport must be based on technical and safety considerations.
“The priority must always be the rapid stabilisation and safe transfer of the patient to the most appropriate hospital unit (definitive care), respecting technical criteria aimed at maximising the chances of survival and recovery,” stressed SPEPH, recalling that pre-hospital medicine‘follows well-defined principles regarding the choice of the most appropriate means of transport for patients with severe trauma, taking into account several essential variables.’
“We assess weather conditions, the estimated time for the helicopter to arrive at the location of the request for assistance, the time needed to prepare the aircraft and the medical team, and the duration of the flight to the location of the request for assistance”.
On Saturday, medical teams took more than five hours to treat a 49-year-old patient with head trauma after they decided to transfer him from Covilhã Hospital to Coimbra University Hospitals.
In response to the Lusa news agency, the Ministry of Health said on Monday that it had referred any clarification on the case to the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM).
The executive director of the Health Service (SNS), Álvaro Almeida, also referred responsibility for patient transport to INEM, stressing that ‘hospital transfers fall within the scope of the executive management’.
Similarly, the president of the pre-hospital emergency technicians’ union, Rui Lázaro, argued that “those responsible have a face: it is the government and INEM”, given that “INEM should have allowed more time for the tender” for the contracting of the emergency air medical service.
The contracting authority awarded the public tender for this service to Gulf Med Aviation Services Limited at the end of March.
“The company had just over a month. The government and INEM could have launched this tender a little earlier or a little later,” Rui Lazaro said, reiterating that the Air Force helicopters should be relocated to the interior of the country, where he believes they are most needed.
Since 1 May 2024, the Air Force has been providing emergency medical transport with four helicopters that should operate 14 hours a day, and currently, only one helicopter can fly at night, in a transitional operation until the company that won the tender has sufficient resources.
In addition to these four Air Force aircraft, Gulf Med is providing two Airbus helicopters under a direct agreement until the contract takes effect. These are based at Macedo de Cavaleiros and Loulé, and will operate during the day.
According to Defence Minister Nuno Melo, the Air Force has helicopters based in Beja, Montijo and Ovar at the service of INEM.
JML/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
