Fuerteventura launches medical helicopter based at Island Hospital
A historic demand of the island is fulfilled with the landing on Monday of the third advanced life‑support helicopter of the Canary Islands Emergency Service. With a permanent base at the Insular Hospital, the aircraft will serve Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, shortening response times for any health emergency.
Fuerteventura inaugurated on Monday, 23 March, its first permanently based medical helicopter, marking the official presentation of the third advanced life‑support aircraft operated by the Canary Islands Emergency Service (SUC) across the archipelago. Each helicopter is crewed at all times by a commander, a pilot, and a medical‑nursing team.
With this addition, the Canary Islands now have three advanced life‑support helicopters stationed in Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, alongside the existing medical fixed‑wing aircraft. The new helicopter expands the aerial emergency fleet, aiming to reduce response times for inter‑hospital transfers and urgent interventions in hard‑to‑reach locations, especially in the eastern province.
In 2025, the two previously operating medical helicopters were deployed 1,148 times, a 7.8 % increase over the previous year, while the medical airplane performed 770 missions transporting patients between islands and to mainland referral hospitals in Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo and Seville. These figures highlighted the need to expand the service in a fragmented territory, particularly along the axis of the two eastern islands, which together form the third most populated corridor of the archipelago after the two capital islands.
The new contract, which came into force on Sunday, 22 March, guarantees 24‑hour operation 365 days a year and includes a one‑year extension option. The arrival of this resource fulfills a long‑standing demand from Fuerteventura and follows the 2025 award by the Government of the Canary Islands of a €39 million, four‑year contract for the SUC’s medical air fleet.
The ceremony was attended by a broad institutional delegation, led by the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, together with the Health and Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Emergencies ministers, Esther Monzón and Manuel Miranda; the President of the Fuerteventura Cabildo, Lola García; the director of the Canary Health Service, Adasat Goya; the director of the Fuerteventura Health Area, Tomás Pérez; the mayor of Puerto del Rosario, David de Vera; the regional director of the SUC, Noemí González; and other officials from the Health Services Management and the aircraft’s medical crew.
On‑board Equipment: Pediatric and Neonatal High‑Flow Oxygen Therapy
The government’s technical note details the service’s capabilities and introduces new specifications for the SUC’s air fleet. The SUC’s medical director highlighted several upgrades in the new tender, including pediatric and neonatal high‑flow oxygen therapy, on‑board blood transport with portable analysis equipment, a fire‑mitigation system, universal‑syringe infusion pumps, and digital integration of electromedicine to transmit patient data in real time to the coordination center and receiving hospital.
The contract also incorporates an “ECMO retainer” system, enabling the transport of patients undergoing ECMO therapy—a life‑support technique for critical cardiac or respiratory failure.
Commander, Pilot and Medical‑Nursing Team on Call at All Times
The Fuerteventura operational base leverages a hospital helipad and the island’s strategic location to provide coverage for both Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.
Each aircraft is staffed by a commander, a pilot, and a HEMS medical team consisting of a physician and a nursing professional. According to data released when the contract was awarded, the two helicopters operating in 2024 were deployed 1,065 times, underscoring the high demand for such resources in the fragmented Canary Islands.
A further innovation is the digital integration of electromedicine, which will allow real‑time transmission of clinical data from the aircraft to the SUC coordination room and the receiving hospital, facilitating a faster and better‑coordinated therapeutic response.