The Transport Helicopter Squadron (ETH) of the 93rd Croatian Air Force and Air Defence Base received the Recognition from the National Protection and Rescue Directorate for the 112 medical flights performed in the Dubrovnik – Neretva County. The Recognition was presented at a ceremony in Dubrovnik on 25 August 2015 to the Mi-8MTV captain, Major Krešimir Matan said the Recognition had a particular importance for the crews as the flights in the County often involved children and pregnant women.
Some of them attended the ceremony as special invitees and met with the crew members to recollect the interventions in a calmer atmosphere.    
„We are ready to take off on a mission on a 24-h a day basis throughout the year, standing-by to any requests to transport patients and save their lives. Over a third of the 504 flights performed last year were from Dubrovnik, transporting 203 residents of Dubrovnik, the County or tourists. To this day in 2015 the figure has reached some 112 flights with 143 patients aboard our helicopters“, said Major Matan.
The Head of the County Protection and Rescue Office, Ana Kordić said the Squadron was the right recipient, as the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence were reliable and ready to reach the patients in need even in most unfavourable conditions and to transport them to medical facilities. Ms Kordić illustrated the statement with the emergency flight going on simultaneously with the ceremony, taking a pregnant woman from Korčula. “This flight too was performed successfully and safely and the woman reached the hospital in Split on time. Thanks to the pilots the residents of Dubrovnik and the County feel safer, knowing that whoever might need it can be transported to the nearest hospital centres within the shortest term“.