The infrastructure of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) includes HEMS bases, hospital heliports, Public Interest Sites (PIS), designated HEMS landing sites, and the infrastructure of air routes intended for HEMS. Initially, the regulations and standards from which the requirements for HEMS infrastructure arise are comprehensively presented. This begins with the regulatory requirements governing aviation operations, airports, and heliports, extending to the technical requirements of ICAO standards and recommended practices. The significance of the reference helicopter in planning HEMS infrastructure is described.
The following section analyses the state of HEMS infrastructure in Slovenia. The current status of operational bases is examined first, where modern methodologies for optimizing the location and number of bases are briefly presented. The status of registered hospital heliports and other hospital landing sites is also analysed. It highlights the inadequate regulatory framework for unregistered hospital landing sites, which could impact aviation safety. Finally, based on the analysis and comparison with foreign practices, proposals for improvements to HEMS infrastructure in Slovenia are provided, focusing on bases, heliports, and public interest sites.
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