On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, the Ministry of Health announced a competition for funding medical entities as part of an investment program to support the operations of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) – the purchase of brand-new rescue helicopters.
Photo: Christian D. Keller, Airbus Helicopters
The purpose of the competition is to select applications for funding tasks aimed at equipping medical entities that operate Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) and are part of the State Medical Rescue system. This investment is being carried out to meet national defense or security needs through the purchase of brand-new rescue helicopters, based on Resolution No. 173 of the Council of Ministers dated August 16, 2022, which established the investment program titled Investment Program for the Modernization of Medical Entities (Program inwestycyjny modernizacji podmiotów leczniczych). The total amount of financial resources allocated for funding applications in this competition is 446 million PLN.
The application process for funding begins on March 21, 2025, at 10:00 AM and lasts no later than April 4, 2025, at 11:59 PM. The funding for a single application from the Medical Fund – Subfund for the Modernization of Medical Entities amounts to a maximum of 99%.
The minimum own contribution that the applicant must provide for the investment throughout its implementation period is 1% of the estimated investment cost. The own contribution is understood as the applicant’s own funds or funds from other sources that will be allocated to finance the investment. The funding may be used until December 31, 2028.
Functional parameters of the new helicopters:
- Adequate to the operational limits of existing hospital helipads.
- Adequate to the operational limits of the infrastructure of 24/7 HEMS bases of the Polish Air Rescue (LPR).
- Certified for flights under VFR (Visual Flight Rules) and IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), both during the day and at night, with a crew consisting of either one or two pilots.
- Certified for NVIS (Night Vision Imaging System) operations using night vision goggles of a type and model compatible with those used by LPR.
- Certified in Performance Class 1.
- Equipped with skid-type landing gear.
- Fitted with a 4-axis automatic flight control system (4-axis autopilot).
- Equipped with avionics systems allowing precise instrumental landing approaches compliant with RNP 3D LPV (Required Navigation Performance 3D Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance).
- Providing a minimum operational range of 450 km, with readiness for takeoff within 15 minutes.
- Featuring a certified medical cabin interior that meets the requirements of the harmonized standard PN-EN-13718-2 Medical vehicles and their equipment – Air ambulances – Operational and technical requirements for medical transportation, in the scope of HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) and HICAMS (Highway Construction and Materials System) operations.
- Allowing reconfiguration of the interior for simultaneous evacuation transport of at least two patients in a lying position.
Currently, the Polish Air Rescue (LPR) operates 27 Airbus H135 rescue helicopters (previously designated as Eurocopter EC135), including 23 in the P2+ version and 4 in the P3 version, as well as one flight simulator. These were delivered between 2009-2010 (P2+) and in 2015 (P3). They are stationed at 21 permanent bases across Poland and one seasonal base in Koszalin, which is activated during the summer holidays. These helicopters replaced the obsolete Mi-2 Plus helicopters, which were retired in 2011, as well as a single Agusta A109 Power helicopter that was lost in a crash on November 20, 2009 (it had been in service since 2005).
In January of this year, the Polish Air Rescue (LPR) reported that the H135 fleet had surpassed half a million landings and accumulated 125,000 flight hours.
It is worth noting that as early as 2021, the then-management of the Ministry of Health highlighted the necessity of purchasing six additional rescue helicopters but did not receive financial resources for this purpose. Now, if the competition is successfully concluded, the Public Procurement Office at the Ministry of Health should initiate a tender procedure for this procurement.
Complementing the LPR fleet, within the Air Transport Team, are two Bombardier Learjet 75 Liberty aircraft and one Piaggio P.180 Avanti II (a single Piaggio P.180 Avanti I was decommissioned in May 2024).