Nine of Cyprus's 13 emergency response motorcycles remain grounded due to persistent staffing shortages, despite the specialised fleet already attending 350 emergency callouts across the island. Ambulance Service chief Riana Constantinou revealed to Phileleftheros that only four two-wheeled units are currently operational, with two stationed in Nicosia and two in Limassol. Even these four operating units rely entirely on paramedics working overtime. The service currently possesses 22 internationally certified healthcare professionals trained in pre-hospital care, yet severe manpower bottlenecks prevent the remaining nine motorcycles from taking to the roads.
Functioning effectively as rapid first-aid units on two wheels, these specialized motorcycles carry defibrillators, prescription medicines, and certified medical supplies to manage trauma and severe bleeding. Operating primarily in congested city centres, narrow urban streets, and busy coastal tourist zones, responders work in pairs to navigate heavy traffic far faster than standard ambulances. Constantinou emphasized that reaching cardiac arrest, stroke, or severe bleeding patients just three or four minutes faster significantly increases survival rates. The emergency dispatch centre frequently deploys motorcycle crews alongside conventional ambulances, allowing paramedics to assess patients and initiate critical care before larger vehicles arrive.
Data collected by the Ambulance Service highlights a sharp spike in emergency motorcycle deployments during January, when demand reaches up to three times higher than other months, followed by secondary peaks in March and June. Constantinou noted that the service handles approximately 10 life-threatening red-category emergencies every day, demonstrating the vital necessity of early intervention. Citing a World Health Organisation benchmark that values a human life at 2 million euros, she urged government authorities to establish permanent staffing arrangements, arguing that the social and economic costs of delayed emergency care far outweigh the investment required to fully deploy the motorcycle fleet.