Russian regions will start to receive ambulance trucks on KAMAZ chassis. This news was announced by Russian State Duma Deputy Yury Smirnov after a meeting with Russian Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova.
According to him, there are lots of outdated medical aid special vehicles in many regions. Therefore he asked the head of the ministry what measures were being taken to renovate the ambulance truck fleet. Answering Yury Smirnov's question, Veronika Skvortsova informed that in the nearest future Russian regions would receive ambulance trucks based on KAMAZ chassis. "New models are more reliable and serve much longer. Besides, such vehicles feature state-of-the-art medical equipment compliant with all standards," emphasized Yury Smirnov. "So, Russian regions can order new special vehicles, including those on KAMAZ chassis." He added that the KAMAZ ambulance would be especially popular in some municipalities with off-road terrain, for instance in rural areas.
Ir should be recalled that the idea to build such a vehicle was for the first time voiced by Governor of Magadan Oblast Vladimir Pechyony at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and was supported by the head of the Russian state. The new vehicle for extreme climatic conditions and lack of roads was developed within a short period of time. Soon, in March 2017, the first ambulance truck on a KAMAZ-43502 AWD chassis brilliantly passed testing in the Far East of Russia. The vehicle was operated at extremely low temperatures on the Kolyma federal highway. The truck travelled 1,370 kilometers along the route Magadan – Palatka – Debin – Sinegorye – Yagodnoye – Susuman – Magadan.
This autumn it became known that by till the end of the year the Ministry of Health will purchase KAMAZ vehicles to be used for emergency in remote ares. "This year, with consent of the Government, the first such trucks will be purchased for Magadan and Amur Oblasts, as well as Khabarovsk and Altay Krais," said Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova during parliamentary hearings on accessibility of medical aid for rural population. The importance to develop this project was what she highlighted. Today 37.8 million villagers living in hard-to-reach areas are reportedly deprived of adequate health care, and this is 25.7% of the total Russian population.
