Mountain Rescuers in Romania Test Jet Packs

BTA correspondent Martina Gancheva, Metodi Yordanov

Photo by Romanian Department for Emergency Situations

Bucharest,

21.05.2024 15:41

(BTA)

Mountain rescuers from Alba County in Transylvania tested the first jet pack (a device worn as a backpack which uses jets to propel the wearer through the air) they can use to fly to accident scenes. An hour and a half hiking route was covered in just two minutes, Romania's Department for Emergency Situations told BTA.

With such highly efficient equipment, people injured in the mountains can receive first aid in just a few minutes. The rescuer using the backpack cannot transport the injured, however, and their main goal is to provide first aid quickly until the helicopter or ground crew arrives, explained Raed Arafat, head of the Department for Emergency Situations.

The Department is organising tests together with the equipment's manufacturers to see how they can be integrated in Romania.

"It will take time until we find solutions to have such equipment in the country. It is a question of financing, of concept, of recruiting staff to operate the jet packs," explained Raed Arafat.

The course to operate the jet pack lasts four weeks. The price starts at GBP 380,000 (BGN 866,400). These devices are already in use in the UK and Ireland.

/RY/