It is impossible for the Air Force to act as INEM. “And if I were the minister…”

Manuel Pizarro warns: “If anyone dreams that medical emergency helicopters will be operated by the Air Force, I wish them all the best.”

The former Minister of Health Manuel Pizarro defended “being impossible” a Air Force ensure the service of medical emergency helicoptersclaiming that around 40 pilots are needed to operate four aircraft.

“If someone dreams that someday the country’s four 24-hour emergency medical helicopters will be operated by the Air Force, I wish you much happiness”, said the former governor in the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM).

To the deputies, Manuel Pizarro highlighted that, in 2008 and 2009, he was Secretary of State when the emergency medical helicopter service was created, when he was working with the Portuguese Air Force on this possibility.

“I know this is impossible today and it will be impossible in the next decade. We are not going to do any more futurology than that”, highlighted the former Minister of Health, warning that the issue is not limited to the number of helicopters available for the service.

According to him, to have a helicopter available 24 hours a day for medical emergencies, if the pilots work 40 hours a week, they need “nine to 10 riders in each” aircraft.

“But somebody of those present here color that the Air Force has 40 helicopter pilots to place in each of the country’s locations?” asked Manuel Pizarro, for whom “That doesn’t happen today and it won’t ever happen.”

The Air Force will have four new Black Hawk helicopters that, according to the Ministry of Defense, will also be used for medical emergency operations, in an investment of around 32 million euros, using funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

Currently, this service is provided by a private company, which provides helicopters 24 hours a day at INEM’s four bases, through a contract worth 77.5 million euros that runs until 2030.

“If I were the minister”

In this commission of inquiry, the deputies investigated the actions of the INEM during a greve to pre-hospital emergency technician overtime in late October and early November 2024, during which they were recorded 12 deathsthree of which were due to delays in assistance, according to the General Inspection of Health Activities, as well as the relationship between the guardianship and the institute since 2019.

Manuel Pizarro stated that, if he had been in office during the 2024 INEM strike, the consequences of this strike would not have happened, due to the permanent contact he maintained with the unions.

“I have the deep conviction, proven by the year and a half in which I was a minister, that If I were a minister, what happened around the strike would never have happened October and November 2024 at INEM”, he declared to the commission.

To the deputies, Pizarro highlighted that, while he was in office between September 2022 and March 2024, he maintained direct and permanent contact with union leaders, ensuring that this monitoring made it possible to avoid similar situations.

“While I was minister, I did everything in my power to limit the existence and impact of INEM strikes”, he recalled.

The former socialist ruler insisted that nothing comparable to what occurred at the end of 2024 had ever occurred during his term.

“Never in 2022 or 2023 or until April 2, 2024 there was nothing that compared at INEM with the strike in October and November 2024, nothing compared. I still have the number of the union leaders here on my cell phone, because called them, if that were the case, morning, afternoon or night”, he highlighted.

Pizarro said that, from his point of view, it is “unthinkable” that a member of the Government would not “absolutely constantly” monitor a strike at INEM, given the sensitivity of the medical emergency service.

“Eu I knew everything that was happening during an INEM strike ‘on time’, because it is unthinkable From my point of view, a member of the Government does not follow something serious like an INEM strike on an absolutely constant basis. I didn’t need to see on the news or in the newspapers that there was a problem, I knew there was a problem and I intervened to limit the impact of the strikes”, he explained.

Compliments to INEM

Pizarro also defended the quality of INEM, stating that the institution stands out on the international scene and that professionals guarantee, on a daily basis, quick and qualified responses to the population.

“I maintain that the INEM is a major institution in the country and that in international comparison, INEM honor Portugal and honors the Portuguese”, he highlighted, praising the institute’s technical staff and highlighting the high level of preparation and dedication of the professionals.

The former government official acknowledged that there are flaws and room for improvement, but insisted that these limitations have always existed and have never compromised the overall functioning of the pre-hospital emergency system – until the end of 2024.

“This is what had never happened before. INEM’s response and the confidence that the Portuguese can have, this was all before those fateful days when, in fact, INEM’s response was very compromised”, he stressed.