Pirkanmaa Hospital District is responsible for the physician-led prehospital emergency care and field commander functions within its area. The physician-led emergency care unit is on call at its Tampere-Pirkkala Airport base and moves by helicopter or ambulance, depending on the location of the patient and the weather conditions. The Emergency Care Centre is located on Tays campus and the emergency field commander is alerted to tasks from here.
The ambulance services are produced as a welfare mix model by private service providers and the Pirkanmaa Rescue Department The prehospital care services produced by the Pirkanmaa Rescue Department includes ambulance services in the following municipalities: Nokia, Pirkkala, Tampere and Valkeakoski, Lempäälä, Akaa, Vesilahti and southern Ylöjärvi. Other ambulance units are placed under competitive tendering among private service providers.
The Pirkanmaa Rescue Department produces first-response services under co-operation agreement, except in the areas of Jämsä and Kuhmoinen, where the first-response services are provided by the Central Finland Rescue Department.
Non-urgent patient transport units are available if necessary, as resources for the prehospital care in, for example, in major accidents and disasters, when it is the fastest unit to reach an emergency patient or peak times in the emergency medical services. Similarly, units of the prehospital care units can be used in non-urgent patient transport during quiet times.