There are 30 air emergency stations across the country, said Dr Pirhossein Kolivand, head of Iran’s Emergency Medical Services. “Traffic congestion and drivers’ poor cooperation reduces the speed of aid delivery, and therefore air emergency services should be expanded to meet the needs of the sprawling metropolises as well as in the rural regions,” he said, Mehr News Agency reported. “Developing emergency services in rural regions, air services in particular, should be prioritized since a large number of accidents take place on rural roads,” he added. There were no air emergency stations in the country before the 2014 Health Reform Plan was launched under the incumbent government.
