Prague will announce a competition for the headquarters of rescuers, it will be at the Prosek Polyclinic

Prague – The Prague City Hall will announce an architectural-urban planning competition for the design of a new headquarters for Prague paramedics (ZZS), which is set to be built next to the Prosek Polyclinic in Prague 9. This was decided by the city council today. The city is also preparing a memorandum with Prague 9, which originally had the designated plots under its administration and is now transferring them to the city hall. The new headquarters will include a dispatch center, administration, and educational and training facility for paramedics. The headquarters is estimated to cost around 1.5 billion crowns including VAT.

Prague paramedics are currently based in Korunní Street in a building they share with the Municipal Police. The construction of a separate headquarters has been planned by the city for a while, and several proposals have emerged in the past. The previous management of the city hall wanted to place the ZZS in a long-under-construction building in Palmovka, where the town hall of Prague 8 was originally supposed to be. However, that fell through due to complications with the completion. Before that, the city hall considered plots in Troja, but the local town hall opposed it.

The city hall leadership has now agreed with Prague 9 to utilize the plots near the Prosek Polyclinic. According to an earlier statement by city councilor Milena Johnová (Prague Sobě), the winner of the two-round architectural competition should be known in the summer of next year. A jury consisting of architects and city representatives will select the winner. According to the planned schedule, construction could begin in 2025, and be completed two years later. The competition is expected to cost about six million crowns, and the entire preparation of the building's project documentation about 80 million excluding VAT.

According to the approved document, the new building should house the dispatch center, a training center for paramedics, administrative facilities of the ZZS, and facilities for servicing and washing ambulances. The workplaces of Prague paramedics are currently spread across various parts of the city. Some ZZS operations will relocate to the Prosek Polyclinic until the new building in Střížkov is completed, which, according to Prague 9 mayor Tomáš Portlík (ODS), is expected to be expanded. In the new extension, the ZZS is expected to find temporary facilities starting in 2023, as previously stated by Johnová.

The Prague Emergency Medical Service will celebrate 165 years since its founding next year. Currently, it has more than 20 emergency bases and is gradually building more. The ZZS has been located in the building on Korunní Street since 1999. The annual budget of the organization is approximately half a billion crowns. Last year and this year, paramedics were involved in the fight against the pandemic, helping not only with transporting infected individuals to hospitals but also with testing and vaccination.