The Malpartida medical base in Cáceres, operated by INAER Spain is now the home of Spain’s first all-woman medical helicopter crew. The crew is made up of pilot Beatriz Parera, medic Gloria Palacios and Salobrar Sánchez and Rocio Ramos from the Extramadura Health Service, and uses a Eurocopter EC135.

“The gender of the crew doesn’t matter; what matters is the harmony between the crew and the health professionals, to ensure successful missions like we’ve seen over the past few days,” explained pilot Beatrix Parera of INAER.

INAER operates a total of 27 medical aircraft in Spain. In 2012 the company completed 8,228 medical emergency missions and treated 6,658 patients suffering from conditions including trauma, heart attacks, strokes and sepsis, as well as providing neonatal care and transport.