Slovakia and Czech Rep Sign Agreement on Emergency Medical Services Cooperation

Prague, 4 July (TASR) - Slovak Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) and his Czech counterpart Vlastimil Valek have signed a framework agreement between their two countries on cross-border cooperation concerning emergency medical services, allowing Czech paramedics to be called out to Slovak territory if they can reach an accident site more quickly and vice versa, TASR has learnt. "The emergency services must be ready to assist anyone, anywhere, as quickly as possible - no matter which side of the shared border they're on. With this agreement, we're removing unnecessary administrative barriers and strengthening the most important aspect: the ability of paramedics to reach patients in a timely and efficient manner," stated Sasko. Speaking at a press conference after signing the document, Valek noted that the agreement allows medical emergency services to provide assistance on both sides of the border without any administrative obstacles in accordance with the law. "The main objective is to ensure that assistance is provided in a timely, efficient and rapid manner regardless of national borders in situations in which a country's emergency services lack capacity, it [the emergency service of the other country] is closer and is more accessible to people," added Valek. lin/df