MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Contracts for the delivery of Russian Ansat and Mil Mi-17 multirole helicopters to Zimbabwe helped create Africa's first air ambulance service, Rostec First Deputy General Director Vladimir Artyakov said.
"We have implemented a very interesting and significant project together with the Republic of Zimbabwe. We not just signed contracts for Ansat and Mi-17 deliveries but also helped that country create a national air ambulance service, the first one on the continent," Artyakov said in an interview published by the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper on Monday.
"An integrated approach and comprehensive customer support are an important feature of the project," he said.
"We trained technicians and pilots. Representatives of the Rostec National Air Ambulance Service (NAAS), which has the broadest competences and experience, shared their practices. Founded in 2019, the NAAS has saved the lives of 30,000 patients with various kinds of injuries and diseases," Artyakov said.
"Now we are providing phased integration of the air ambulance service into the healthcare system of Zimbabwe, from training medical personnel to introducing the work protocol, which regulates the whole process from a phone call received by the call center to the patient's arrival at a medical center," he said.