[NEW] Prague EMS BLS ambulance + Municipal Police cruiser responding [CZ | 23.5.2024] 

Seen here is a new BLS ambulance (unit 218) from Prague's Emergency Medical Services (Czech abbreviation: ZZSHMP) as well as a new Prague Municipal Police Volkswagen Caddy cruiser responding. More details below 🔽
BLS AMBULANCES - A NOVELTY IN PRAGUE
Prague EMS did not have BLS (or medical transport) ambulances in the past. Regular emergency ambulances covered all calls, including low acuity calls that have increased in recent years. These calls generally do not require emergency care nor lights and sirens but people still need help and most of the calls still need to be transported to a hospital or medical facility. The number of these calls has become so big that it's obviously a waste of resources to further cover these with emergency ambulances. In 2023 Prague EMS introduced the medical transport ambulance system for these low acuity calls and as backup for emergency calls.
A quick and temporary solution was the use of older ambulances from other regions. They received mostly white graphics and the ZZSHMP lettering and were soon placed into service. At some recent point Prague EMS received these new Volkswagen Crafter/ Sicar BLS ambulances.
It's also interesting that ZZSHMP breaks up their tradition of only using Mercedes vehicles.
WAIT, JUST BLUE LIGHTS?
Anyone who frequently watches my videos is used to seeing red and blue emergency lights on (new) Czech emergency vehicles. So why do these two new vehicles only come with blue lights? Simply said, these vehicles are not allowed to have red and blue lights.
1) ZZSHMP BLS ambulance: Prague EMS itself is an official EMS provider so Czech law allows them to use red and blue lights on all vehicles that are used for emergencies. But as far as I understand, their medical transport service legally isn't an emergency rescue service so the vehicles do not meet the requirement for red lights. Red & blue lights should only represent actual 112/ 911 emergency service vehicles according to Czech law.
2) Prague Municipal Police: By law, the Czech State Police is the only law enforcement agency allowed to use red lights. Municipal Police Departments are excluded because from the law's perspective, they're not seen as a primary emergency service provider for law enforcement.
Right now Czech law tries to distinguish emergency vehicles that respond to actual 150/ 155/ 158 (or 112/ 911) emergency calls from other types of "emergency" vehicles that are not primary emergency response vehicles.
Personally I think that every agency and every vehicle with lights & sirens should be allowed to use red and blue lights. In the end lights & sirens all do the same - they request the right of way and warn other people of a parked emergency vehicle / hazard.
What are your thoughts about the current Czech law?
Prague, Czechia/ Czech Republic, May 23, 2024.