Aurelijus Veryga of Lithuania and Anda Caksa of Latvia signed the agreement in the Latvian town of Bauska on Wednesday.
“This is the first such agreement in the history of Lithuania signed with the neighboring state on the EMS provision, and now we will be able to save lives on both sides of the border,” Veryga said in a press release.
The agreement will make it possible to dispatch Lithuanian ambulances to locations on the Latvian side of the border and vice versa.
The Lithuanian Health Ministry says Lithuanian or Latvian health professionals could provide EMS to people living within 20 kilometers on the other side of the border in one-off emergency cases.
Lithuania’s existing legislation does not allow providing EMS outside of the country.