Kamaladdin Heydarov
The service comes into operation today, Emergencies Minister Kamaladdin Heydarov told journalists on Wednesday.
He said that the new service would treat road accident casualties on the spot and whisk them to hospital when necessary.
The service is available on the highways across Azerbaijan and at entry points to Baku and the Absheron Peninsula.
The ministry has been using paramedics on motorcycles to treat accident victims in places that do not have a full ambulance service. Statistics show a 35% reduction in fatalities after the introduction of the motor cycle service, Heydarov said.
He expects the new service to reduce fatalities even further.
The minister said the new ambulance service formed part of the ministry's regional emergencies units, alongside the State Fire Service and the High-Risk Rescue Group.
Kamaladdin Heydarov said the Emergencies Ministry was constantly updating its equipment.
"We want to own state-of-the-art equipment. Man-made disasters happen in the world and the number of natural disasters is rising. No one could have imagined that such a disaster might happen in a country like Japan. It has become a problem for the world. Azerbaijan is also located in a seismic zone. Though earthquakes are not like those in Japan, we must be ready for any extreme situations and have the rescue services in place," he said.
APA
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