A NEW POLICY of cooperation between Polish and Slovak air emergency services should speed up the process of getting aid to distressed tourists.
Air Transport Europe (ATE Poprad), a Slovak air emergency service, and Tatrzańskie Ochotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkove (TOPR), the Polish Tatras mountain rescue service, signed an agreement of cooperation on August 11, the SITA newswire reported.
“The agreement emerged through mutual initiatives and should result in faster help for injured visitors to the mountain border regions,” Milan Hoholík, ATE Poprad director general, said after the signing ceremony. “The rescue teams have cooperated in the past, but this will put the understanding on a contractual basis,” Hoholík said.
According to the agreement, if an emergency should occur on Slovak territory and no Slovak helicopter is available then a Polish helicopter could render services in the Slovak parts of the Tatras.
“We could call in a helicopter from Banská Bystrica, but it would take 35 to 40 minutes to reach the patient,” said Hoholík. “The Polish helicopter could be on the spot in the High Tatras in 10 minutes.”
