Amsterdam bans creation of new hotels
Another piece in the overall strategy to reduce tourist flows to the city
The bike ambulance is fully equipped and ready to go when needed, Source: Reševalna služba slovenske Istre
Paramedics on wheels have the ability to provide more mobile, flexible and rapid healthcare services
Izola is a small coastal city in Slovenia, which charms with its fishermen's heritage and Italian-style architecture. Visitors to that town have also been able to enjoy kind of a unique service in the past four years – paramedics on bicycles. The project came to life four years ago with two of the rescuers’ own bicycles and the voluntary work of employees of the Rescue Service of Slovenian Istria (Reševalne službe slovenske Istre).
The idea itself is even a little bit older, though. It first came about as a concept more than ten years ago in relation to providing more efficient first aid services to participants in the Istrian Marathon taking place there.
Igor Crnić from the Izola Health Center explained for Radio Slovenia how the idea was born. "When we realized that the paramedics have to follow (the race participants) even where the ambulance cannot, and that they have to get to the scene of the accident as quickly as possible so that the injured or accident victim can more easily wait for the ambulance."
This story shows the adaptability and the advantages that soft mobility devices can hold over motorized vehicles, especially in narrow and crowded public spaces. The rescuers now ride on specialized electric bicycles, which are adapted for riding on unpaved paths and are fully equipped.
"Everything that is in an ambulance is also on a bicycle, but in a much smaller quantity." For the record, last summer, they intervened 26 times.
The paramedics on bicycles are on site every weekend in the summer and during holidays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. They are connected to the dispatch centre, which is aware of their location at all times and, if necessary, calls them in to intervene.
"We also enter nearby settlements in the Izola area, if the dispatcher sends us, otherwise we do not patrol there. We only do this along the sea from Simon's Bay to Svetilnik and along Parencana along the sea to the border with the Koper municipality," added Igor Crnić.
The most common cases were cases of sudden weakness and injuries, which were treated directly on the ground, thus relieving the emergency medical aid system somewhat, says Crnić, who is satisfied that the project is no longer dependent on volunteer work: "The Municipality of Izola pays the Health Centre Izola, which, according to the contract, pays the rescuers who perform the work. But we'll see how it goes in the future."
Legislators and magnates have to await a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice
The building will then serve as the site for a new museum dedicated to Finnish-Russian relations
Another piece in the overall strategy to reduce tourist flows to the city
In addition, the federal government has launched the National Week of Action against Bicycle Theft to raise awareness of the issue and the new solution
The facility will replace the need to have water supplied by tankers from Valencia
Modern traffic lights do more than regulate the flow of vehicles at crossroads, they also collect enormous amounts of data
The city thinks that it’s time to update pet-related street cleanliness rules for the 21st century
Experimenting with public transport provision in Germany is clearly in a state of creative fervour
Legislators and magnates have to await a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice
The benefit will last until the Dutch parliament adopts the transgender law
Experimenting with public transport provision in Germany is clearly in a state of creative fervour
It also set the standards for a better European parking card for people with disabilities
Urban dwellers across the EU are having a say in making their surroundings friendlier to people and the environment.
Forests in the EU can help green the European construction industry and bolster a continent-wide push for architectural improvements.
Apply by 10 November and do your part for the transformation of European public spaces
Catch up with some recommendations for the 2024 European Capital of Culture programme from the mayor of Tartu
An interview with the ICLEI regional director for Europe аfter the close of COP28
An interview with a member of the No Hate Speech Network team