A new era for ambulances! The color and name have completely changed.

The regulation on Ambulances and Emergency Medical Vehicles has been completely revised. In the new era, vehicles transporting patients will not be able to use the term 'ambulance'. The color of these vehicles will also be gray instead of white. Real and legal persons other than public institutions and private health organizations will not be able to operate ambulances.

AMBULANCE ACQUISITION HAS CHANGED

Accordingly, real and legal persons other than public institutions and private health organizations will not be able to operate ambulances. Those who are not authorized to operate ambulances will not be able to purchase ambulances, but this provision will not apply to purchases made for the purpose of donating to public institutions and organizations.

DOCUMENT REQUIREMENT

Ambulance services will not be able to start operations without obtaining a compliance certificate and completing the minimum number of qualification certificates; ambulances will not be able to operate without this certificate. An ambulance service cannot employ intern students instead of mandatory health personnel in areas where ambulances and health services are provided.

VEHICLE TRACKING WILL BE IMPLEMENTED

In ambulance services, a consulting physician will be present in the call center throughout the service period. In ambulances; camera device packages, mobile device packages, and vehicle tracking devices will be kept operational and trackable throughout the service period. Specially equipped ambulances can be acquired by the Ministry of Health and other public institutions. The downtime of ambulances cannot exceed 30 days per year.

THE TERM 'AMBULANCE' HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM PATIENT TRANSPORT VEHICLES

Patient transport ambulances will only have the label "patient transport" on them. These ambulances cannot be used for transporting patients or injured individuals requiring emergency medical intervention. In the event of a situation requiring emergency medical intervention during transport, the flashers will be activated, and audible warning systems may be used with SKKM approval.

Emergency medical ambulances and intensive care ambulances will use white color, and no color other than red can be used on the labels and signs on these vehicles.

COLORS HAVE CHANGED

Patient transport ambulances will be gray. No color other than blue can be used on the labels and signs on these vehicles. The vehicles mentioned in the regulation cannot be used for funeral transport except in disaster situations. If the ambulance service is owned by organizations such as companies, associations, or foundations, other activities outside of health services that fall within the scope of these organizations cannot be carried out in the ambulance service.

Land ambulances will be required to operate and be stationed within the provincial borders where they have obtained a qualification certificate. They may go outside the provincial borders for interprovincial transfers and to transport patients from provinces without ambulance services to other provinces. Patient transport ambulances cannot be used for health precaution services.

Ambulance services may conduct informative and promotional activities that are protective of health and promote emergency health services. Within the scope of promotional and informative activities, misleading, exaggerated, or scientifically unproven information and statements cannot be included.

THE TERM 'AMBULANCE' WILL NOT BE INCLUDED IN AMBULANCE SERVICES

Those operating ambulances outside of public institutions and organizations will not be able to use names that are used by public institutions and organizations and evoke them, in order to prevent misleading promotions and unfair competition, and cannot indicate them on their signs. The names of ambulance services cannot contain the word "ambulance" or foreign words.

The phone number of the call center cannot be a three-digit number that evokes national or international emergency call numbers. No writing, number, or image other than those specified in the regulation can be found on ambulances. The provisions of the regulation will cover ambulance services and ambulances and emergency medical vehicles provided by public institutions and organizations other than the Ministry of National Defense, the General Command of Gendarmerie, and the Coast Guard Command.