06.07.2020.

Minister Vulin in Novi Pazar: The Serbian Armed Forces have carried out the order of the Supreme Commander

The Minister of Defence, Aleksandar Vulin, visited today the military field hospital in Novi Pazar. During the visit, he handed over the donation of protective medical equipment to the Novi Pazar health care consisting of 5000 pairs of gloves, 5000 masks and 1000 protective suits.

After his visit to the military field hospital, Minister Vulin emphasized that the Serbian Armed Forces carried out the order of the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, that they set up a field hospital and did absolutely everything necessary “for the citizens of Novi Pazar, Sjenica, Tutin, this whole area, to feel safe and to get the adequate health care”.

- At this moment, there are 40 members of the Ministry of Defence, our military medical corps here. They are from Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac, and Belgrade. They are all highly motivated, they are doing their best and none of them thinks about who they are helping, but only that help is needed. I am really grateful to all the members of the Novi Pazar hospital and the members of the Ministry of Health for the huge support and assistance, because we can all, as a team, as one soul, help the citizens of Novi Pazar and all the citizens of Serbia – said Minister Vulin and added that he can understand every criticism, that he can accept the fact that some things should be better, that there should be more of something, that some things should be done faster, but that he absolutely dismisses “the claims that not all the citizens receive the same treatment based on their religion or nationality as the worst and the most heinous lie”.

- All the people living in Serbia deserve equal attention and respect and while Aleksandar Vučić governs Serbia, it will be so. All the members of the Serbian Armed Forces are at the disposal of all the citizens of Serbia and, as you can see, none of them hesitated to leave their families and jobs and go where it is the most difficult. Serbia can be proud of the members of the Ministry of Defence, it can feel safe and secure knowing that there is someone to look after it. The Serbian Armed Forces will continue to take care of all the citizens of Novi Pazar as long as the competent local authorities think it necessary. We will be in Sjenica, Tutin, we will be wherever they call us or where our assistance is needed. That is why we are here – the Minister of Defence emphasized.

According to the commander of the field hospital, Lieutenant Colonel Predrag Krstić, MD, the military field hospital intended for the accommodation and treatment of moderately and severely ill Covid patients was set up yesterday and it started working at full capacity. The capacity of this hospital is 110 beds with the possibility of expanding it to the maximum of 170 beds.

- At the moment, there are 45 patients in the hospital, eight of whom are receiving oxygen therapy. Cooperation with local structures and the Director of the Novi Pazar Health Centre, as well as the cooperation with the Second Army Brigade in the field of logistics has been fully established - Lieutenant Colonel Krstić pointed out.

The Minister of Defence met with the coordinator of the Novi Pazar General Hospital, Dr. Mirsad Đerlek, who pointed out that 10 days ago, a dramatic rise in the number of patients infected with Covid 19 virus began.

- This is the first time we have faced a situation like this where a large number of people came to seek help at the same time and we had to respond to that. We were not prepared for that because we had somehow been spared during the first wave. What I can praise is that we had a good forecast that it would happen. Knowing that the hospital capacities would soon be filled, I asked the President of the Republic and the Minister of Defence for a military hospital. Only last night, 100 people came to our hospital and it was full, and I don’t know what we would have done if it hadn’t been for the Serbian Armed Forces – Dr. Đerlek pointed out expressing gratitude to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Serbian Armed Forces, “because last night alone lives of dozens of people would have been threatened had we not had an alternative in the form of this fully equipped military hospital in Novi Pazar”.

According to him, in addition to medical equipment and materials, the education and transfer of experiences of the members of the military health care engaged in the field hospital are also invaluable.

- People trust military doctors. Last night I offered hotel accommodation to some citizens of Sjenica , but they refused, saying that they wanted to be treated by military doctors. I was happy to hear that people trust the armed forces and this state – said Dr. Mirsad Đerlek.