Finnish medical helicopters to assist in rescue operations in remote regions

Finnish state-owned air rescue service Finnhems will begin using its medical helicopters to support emergency rescue missions in a one-year pilot project covering Lapland, Kainuu, and Eastern Finland, Yle reports.

The initiative aims to speed up response times in remote areas—such as wilderness, fells, and archipelagos—where ground access is slow or impractical. Helicopters will transport rescue personnel and equipment alongside their existing emergency medical duties.

In Lapland, where vast distances and rugged terrain complicate rescues, the service is expected to significantly reduce response times, according to Timo Nyholm, fire chief of the Lapland Rescue Department. “We operate in a unique environment compared to the rest of the country, with long distances and many off-road incidents,” Nyholm said. The system may also ease water rescues in hard-to-reach lake and coastal areas.

Finnhems’ Rovaniemi-based helicopters, typically staffed by two pilots and two paramedics, can accommodate an additional firefighter for rescue tasks. Short-distance missions may also carry extra personnel or gear. Jari Multanen, Finnhems’ flight operations director, emphasized that the pilot prioritizes life-saving rescues, with medical care following only after victims are secured.

The Kuopio-based helicopter, staffed by a pilot, doctor, and paramedic without rescue training, will instead transport two rescue workers from North Savo’s emergency services. Eastern Finland and Kainuu will focus on water rescues, where extensive lake systems and islands pose access challenges.

Lapland’s rescue service has trained ten personnel for helicopter operations, with the first missions expected before Midsummer. The pilot, overseen by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Ministry of the Interior’s Rescue Department, will assess whether to expand the model nationally.

Finnhems’ Rovaniemi base handled over 900 emergency calls last year. While some rescue missions already involve Finnhems due to overlapping alerts, the pilot may add 50–100 new annual tasks—20–40 of which would be purely rescue-focused, per Nyholm’s estimate. Multanen confirmed the workload is manageable but noted that overlapping emergencies would require prioritization.