Abstract
The author describes pre-hospital emergency medical system in the second largest city of Switzerland: Basel. There is no separate medical specialty similar to the Czech 'emergency medicine' but its content is fully covered by a subspecialty called 'emergency anaesthesiology'.
The University hospital anaesthesiologists are involved in providing emergency care within the hospital, as well as in the pre-hospital environment and a helicopter emergency medical service. The advantages of a close coupling between hospital and emergency medical service are emphasized.