The removal of the INEM helicopter from Loulé to Beja demonstrates "a huge disregard for the Algarve and constitutes another attack on the already difficult situation of the Algarve", considered this Monday the executive council of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL), which met in Faro.
«This measure, presented as a measure to generate savings, in the case of the Algarve goes in the opposite direction, that is, it will increase operating costs, given that the helicopter based in Loulé registers 87% of its activity in the region and only 11% in the Baixo Alentejo”, stress the mayors.
AMAL adds that "the transfer of the INEM helicopter has no scientific or operational basis and entails a significant increase in response time, higher fuel consumption and more flight hours, and, simultaneously, will cause the helicopter to be displaced , compared to the places with the highest rate of occurrences'.
"The transfer of the INEM helicopter will make the Algarve region a region devoid of a fast and efficient system of assistance", stress the mayors, adding that "this measure harms not only the resident population, but also the tourist population, having repercussions. negatively on the image of the main tourist region of the country, which already suffers from the lack of doctors and a central hospital, which has been promised for so long, accentuating the weak situation of health care in the region».
For all this, AMAL reveals that it will ask the Minister of Health for "a meeting, as a matter of urgency." in the sense of «keep the helicopter» in the Algarve.
In addition to AMAL, also the Loulé Chamber criticized the withdrawal decision today of the helicopter.
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