Why did Konjic Civil Protection take 6 hours to call the BiH Armed Forces helicopter?

The Mountain Rescue Service, Mostar Station, warns that the system for protecting and rescuing people in Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to be changed, as the existing one is extremely complicated, reports the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

Members of the GSS rescued an elderly woman R.T. from the Konjic village of Čuhovići on Saturday, after she was trapped in the snow and needed medical assistance. However, it took an eternity for the Mostar GSS members to be mobilized, writes NAP.

- We do not want to expose ourselves publicly, to bore readers with details of the operation, nor do we want to call anyone out. We want to point out the numerous shortcomings and contribute to the improvement of the protection and rescue system in our area of operation. Lives are at stake, and all services must act as one; if that is not the case, we have big problems. 

The head of the Mountain Rescue Service – Mostar Station received a call at 2:09 AM that an elderly woman, R. T., from the village of Čuhovići urgently needed medical assistance, and that the competent services were unable to reach the village. The head immediately contacted the emergency number 112. Complications began there because no one answered that number. Then, calls were made sequentially to the Konjic Police Department, Emergency Medical Services, and Civil Protection from Konjic, who were informed about the medical case.

They decided to set out from Mostar on their own initiative to rescue the elderly woman.

- We contacted Civil Protection to provide us with an off-road vehicle to transport members and technical equipment needed for the rescue to Konjic, or to the last point reachable by car. Beyond that, we are prepared to proceed on foot. However, the shifting of responsibility, jurisdiction, paperwork, approvals, etc., were just empty phrases that we have been fed countless times, and of course, we did not receive the requested vehicle, nor other resources from Civil Protection – stated the GSS Mostar.

Using their own cars, the GSS Mostar rescuers reached Konjic and began the rescue operation. The members of the First Team of the Mountain Rescue Service reached R.T. around 11:30 AM, provided her with medical care according to professional standards, and prepared her for transport of any kind.

While the rescue operation was underway, only around 8 AM did Civil Protection from Konjic submit a request for the use of a BiH Armed Forces helicopter for medical purposes. And while the request traveled from official to official in the chain of command, the GSS Mostar rescuers had already arrived at the scene two hours before the helicopter, which arrived 12 hours after the initial call.

- After R. T. was placed in the helicopter, the services failed again, and we waited for more than 15 minutes for the Konjic Emergency Medical Services to arrive at Igman stadium, even though they were informed in advance. The snowplow passed through the village of Čuhovići around 5 PM – stated the GSS Mostar.

In a press release, the GSS Mostar Station expressed dissatisfaction with the complicated procedures for engaging helicopters for such purposes, the inactivity and slowness in the work of all competent services at all levels that they contacted during the operation. The GSS also expressed dissatisfaction with organizations that "take credit for the activities of others, while in reality doing nothing".

They emphasized once again that their 30 rescuers will always come to the aid, but they do not understand why they do not receive help or support from the system.