Where in Zuidas
Starting from 19 July 2023, the Amsterdam emergency helicopter will have a new homebase. After 28 years, the emergency helicopter and the whole of the Mobile Medical Team (MMT) are moving to a new homebase on the airfield at Amsterdam Heliport in the western harbour area. Although the helipad on the roof of VUmc location will remain in place for now, noise disruption for the local area will be reduced significantly. The number of flights from and to the helipad will be reduced from around 2,500 to an average of 50 per year. The emergency helicopter hangar on the roof of the VUmc location will be dismantled later this year.
Refuelling in western harbour area
In 2021, Amsterdam UMC, the City of Amsterdam and the Province of Noord-Holland made the decision to relocate the emergency helicopter homebase. At the homebase in the western harbour area, the emergency helicopter will have its own refuelling facilities, which means there will no longer be any need for separate refuelling flights. The move will not affect the speed at which the emergency helicopter can reach patients. Currently, there are four locations in the Netherlands from which emergency helicopters can provide urgent medical support in the case of serious (traffic) accidents.
Acute cardiology at VUmc location
Since March 2023, much of the acute emergency care provided by Amsterdam UMC has been based at the AMC location in Zuidoost. However, acute cardiology will remain based at the VUmc location for the time being and is expected to transfer to the AMC location in 2025. The helipad at the VUmc location will then be taken permanently out of use. Until then, the emergency helicopter will continue to bring acute cardiology patients to the VUmc location. After the transfer, the doctor will be collected by the emergency helicopter and flown back to Amsterdam Heliport, ready for the next call-out. This is expected to happen 50 times per year on average.
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