Doctors of East Kazakhstan Oblast get new helicopter

An ambulance station in Semey, East Kazakhstan Oblast has received a helicopter on the eve of their professional holiday, Tengrinews reports citing the official website of Semey city's Mayor.

The grand ceremony dedicated to the Medical Worker Day took place in Semey. Berdybek Saparbayev, governor of East Kazakhstan Oblast, opened the ceremony.

"Today, on the eve of the Medical Worker Day we hand the keys to news cars to 117 healthcare facilities. And we present this symbolic key to the medical helicopter to the ambulance station of Semey,” the Governor said, Arnapress.kz reports.

The air transport is a new MD-600 multipurpose helicopter. The national sanitary aviation coordination center has allocated the helicopter to Semey ambulance station through the state Salamatty Kazakhstan program, a state-run healthcare program.

"Currently, the fleet of medical vehicles in the region includes about 300 cars, and these new 117 cars will significantly contribute to the quality of the medical services. I would like to specifically emphasize that the new helicopter is provided to Semey region at the expense of the national budget. It is very necessary, especially in cases of emergency and given the fact that there are many remote villages in the oblast," Vadim Ovsyannikov, head of Public Health Department of East Kazakhstan Oblast, said. 

Availability of this helicopter will significantly improve the level of the emergency aid provided to the residents of the remotest areas, located outside Semey. Only yesterday, doctors delivered two emergency patients by helicopter. One of them was a woman on her last month of pregnancy who had an onset of labor. Another 28-year-old patient had a hemorrhagic stroke. If this patient had not been delivered to the hospital in time, the attack would have been fatal, the East Kazakhstan Regional Info Center reported.

One flight of a helicopter costs 1 million tenge (around $5450) to the state budget.

The Medical Worker Day is state holiday in Kazakhstan, under the presidential decree of November 15, 2003. It is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. This year it is June 15.

By Assel Satubaldina