The Liberec ambulance service received an EU grant for a new operations center

Liberec - The Medical Rescue Service of Liberec Region is preparing to build a new operations center. It has obtained a grant from European funds for the project amounting to nearly 47 million crowns. The new center was initially planned to be built along with garages at the helicopter base at the Liberec airport, but that would require a change in the zoning plan, which takes at least a year. Waiting that long is not feasible, so the management opted for a different option - the new operations center will be established in the former Neli restaurant in the premises of the regional hospital. CTK was informed about this today by the director of the regional rescue service, Stanislav Mackovík.
    The rescue service has a station at the airport in Liberec and is also based in two villas near the Liberec hospital. Although the villas have undergone renovations in recent years, the operations center no longer meets current needs - it is too small and is not technically compatible with other operational systems. In the event of a collapse, dispatchers in Ústí nad Labem or Prague cannot take over the service. This proved to be a significant weakness, for example, this July when a ball lightning struck the center, damaging computers and disabling the information system. "The dispatchers had to guide ambulances by mobile phone as they did 15 years ago," said Mackovík.
    According to Mackovík, the grant from the integrated operational program is primarily intended for equipping the new operations center, with just under four million going to construction modifications. "The main goal is to ensure compatibility, so that we can communicate with any other ambulance service. If our dispatch center goes down, dispatchers in Ústí or Prague should be able to take over its role; with the technology we have today, that’s not possible," explained Mackovík. The new dispatch center must be built within three years; therefore, they cannot wait for a change in the zoning plan.
    However, Mackovík does not give up the intention to build a new base at the airport. According to him, the Liberec rescue service is one of the last in the country that does not have a new, modern facility. "I don’t think the quality of the ambulance service depends on a new building, but we are technically and technologically stretched to our limits, the buildings are starting to decay and will require more and more money," he explained. He also plans to move another ambulance and a vehicle for mass casualties to the airport, which would speed up assistance not only on highway 35 but also in the southern part of the city. However, some ambulances would remain in the city center. "Then we could free up one villa," added the director.
    The Medical Rescue Service of the Liberec Region was established in 2003 and has about thirty intervention teams deployed in 13 cities in the region. It can send a helicopter to urgent cases as well. The rescuers have about 40 vehicles available, though not all are in regular operation. Some vehicles serve as backups, for example, for interventions in mass casualties.