The Emergency Medicine Association of the People's Republic of China (EMA) has signed a contract with the Russian Helicopters Holding Company, part of Rostec State Corporation, for 20 Ansat helicopters.

The helicopters are designed to provide primary care and emergency medical evacuation and can be used in regions with complex terrain and remote areas with restricted transport accessibility. The Ansat medical module also provides capabilities for resuscitation activities, intensive care and vital signs monitoring during transportation to a hospital.

“This contract marks the fully-fledged introduction of the Ansat to the international market," says Russian Helicopters director general Andrey Boginskiy. "The helicopter has demonstrated excellent performance within the framework of the air medical service development programme in Russia, and now it is going to save lives in China. The production capacity of Kazan Helicopters will ensure supplies both to Russian and foreign customers. By the end of the year we plan to validate the Ansat type certificate in China and deliver all helicopters under this contract in 2019-2020."

In Russia, medically-configured Ansat helicopters have been employed for rescue operations in Volgograd, Kurgan, Kirov, Kostroma, Pskov, Nizhny Novgorod regions and Tatarstan. Since 2017, 11 medical Ansat helicopters have been delivered to regional emergency services and seven more helicopters will be shipped by the end of the year within the framework of the 'Timely provision of emergency medical services in hard-to-reach areas of the Russian Federation' project.

In September 2018 JSC Russian Helicopters, the Russian national EMS aviation service and Avia Capital Services signed a contract for the delivery of 104 Ansat helicopters in medical configuration.

The Ansat is certified for operations within the temperature range of -45 to +50 degrees celsius. It has successfully completed high altitude tests, proving its capability to operate in mountainous area at altitudes of up to 3,500 metres. In August 2018 following the results of certification, Rosaviatsiya issued a major change approval to Kazan Helicopters for the extension of service lives to a number of Ansat assemblies and systems, making the helicopter more attractive for current operators and customers.