EMS Prague-Smichov, Czech Republic
Posted by: 
ToRo61
N 50° 03.845 E 014° 24.541
33U E 457702 N 5545923
The Prague Emergency Medical Service (Zdravotnická záchranná služba) is the one of the oldest institution of its kind in Europe
Waymark Code: WMD4EN
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 11/17/2011
Views: 119
The Prague Emergency Medical Service is an organization funded by the City of Prague. Thanks to its long history, it is the one of the oldest institution of its kind in Europe, having celebrated the 150th anniversary on 8 December 2007.
The main its task is providing specialized pre-hospital emergency medical care. Emergency calls from the entire territory of Prague are accepted continuously at the toll-free number 155. All activities are managed by the Medical Operations Center, where operators receive over 255,000 emergency calls per year.
Specialized pre-hospital emergency care is provided by rapid response vehicles (RRV – emergency vehicles carrying a physician) and advanced life support vehicles (ALS – large ambulance vehicles comprising a paramedic and a driver/rescue person). They operate in the rendezvous system, where a physician works together with an ALS crew in situations when a patient's life or health is in serious danger. This approach not only reduces the response time to a patient, but it also allows deploying physicians in an optimal manner because in the vast majority of cases (approximately 80%), patients are transported to a medical facility without the need for a physician assistance during the transport. This way, doctors are not unnecessarily tied up and can be dispatched to assist other patients.