Ambulance Contract

The official dealership of Hyundai commercial vehicles, Soroush Diesel Mabna, has clinched a deal to supply the Health Ministry and state hospitals with 200  Hyundai ambulances. According to local automotive website Asre Khodro, Soroush has agreed to supply the ministry with 200 Hyundai ambulances initially, built in partnership with a hitherto unnamed ambulance manufacturer. The report does not say if the ambulance builders are Iranian or foreign. The firm said that in the later phases it would sell 800 ambulances to the state ambulance services. Iran uses a mix of different ambulances from a range of manufacturers. The government imported 351 ambulances worth $26 million from Germany in the first half of the previous fiscal (March 20-August 21, 2016). The ambulances were manufactured by Stuttgart-based Mercedes-Benz. According to Iran’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS), currently 3,500 ambulances, 40 motorcycle ambulances, and 21 air ambulances provide 24-hour services across the country. By the end of this year in March 2018, Iran should have around 4,000 Type-C (equipped with advanced life-support system) ambulances in operation, according to an earlier statement by the Health Ministry.