Rescue Service Prague: A new headquarters will be established in Prague 9
The Prague ambulance will celebrate 165 years of its existence next year, and if everything goes according to the plan of the municipality, for the 170th anniversary, it could get a new office building. Councilor Milena Johnová (Prague Sobě), who is in charge of healthcare, reminded at a press conference on Thursday that the construction of the new headquarters has been underway for years. “Before the year 2000, there was talk of a project in Smíchov, then in Bulovka, then there was talk of a building in Troja for several years, the last unsuccessful attempt was Palmovka,” she said. Now it seems that we have finally managed to find a place for the new headquarters in Střížkov. Next week, Prague councilors should vote on the intention to announce an architectural competition.
The municipality agreed on the location with Prague 9. Land in the vicinity of the local clinic has been entrusted to the administration of the city district, which is formerly back to the capital. According to the mayor of Prague 9, Tomáš Portlík (ODS), this is the case the town hall decided to lend a helping hand to the municipality. “We all know that the rescue service needs its facilities and headquarters,” he said. He and Councilman John both appreciated that a consensus had been reached across the political spectrum, given that the mayor was in opposition to the municipality.
Construction could begin in 4 years
According to Councilor Johnová, studies have already been carried out to examine whether the building can be built on land in Prague 9, and it turned out that this is possible. According to the municipal authorities, the architectural competition should be two – round and the future appearance of the building could be known next year. The jury should include representatives of the municipality, the management of Prague 9 and also the architects. “We anticipate that construction could begin in 2025 and be completed in mid-2027,” the councilor added. I’m counting on that will cost 1.2 to 1.5 billion crowns. According to Johnová, this is one of the strategic investments that Prague has owed to the rescue service for a long time.
Petr Kolouch, the director of the Prague Rescue Service, also appreciated the fact that the intention to build a new headquarters had shifted somewhere. Now it is in the high hope that the whole project will be completed. “The very vision of going into something that the capital and the city district do together is different from the previous options, “ he noted. He pointed out that rescue services are currently shared with the city police building and are based here dispatching, which handles 700 to 750 calls a day.
Technologically obsolete
The technical equipment of the building no longer meets the current standards. “Our people deliver great performance in technologically obsolete operations that can no longer withstand much modification.” said Kolouch. In addition, the building also houses, for example, economic, personnel and other administrative departments.
Operations throughout Prague
The rescue service also uses other buildings that are located throughout Prague. For example, the material warehouse is in Braník, the transport department in Smíchov and the crisis management, which helps to manage the current covid situation, is located in Prague 8. „It is not entirely comfortable to handle such operations and in addition, these operations need to be rehabilitated in some way, “added the director. Thanks to the new building, operations should also be centralized. Exit bases should still be located throughout Prague, but they should not be connected with technical or administrative facilities.
According to director Kolouch, the advantage of the new headquarters is also safe, because it is easier to guard one center. According to him, the building at Korunní after the ambulance is moved benefits the city police, which, like the ambulance, has its operations located throughout Prague. The control room, which is headquartered at headquarters, handles more than one hundred thousand calls every year. There were 114,915 of them last year, and rescue crews went to most of them.
Prague ambulance spokesman: Call 155, and if you don’t know where you are, report the street lamp number Jaroslav Simacek, Blesk News
Headquarters of the Medical Rescue Service of the capital of the City of Prague in Korunní Street in Prague 10. (November 18, 2021)
Author: ZZS Praha