Patients dialling 999 for an ambulance in the Midlands appear to be accessing International Rescue, with one team of operators being called on for overseas assistance.
On Easter Sunday, staff at West Midlands Ambulance Service's emergency operations centre in Brierley Hill, Dudley, received a call from a Czech woman in Yardley, Birmingham, trying to help a friend in the Czech Republic.
Last month the same team managed to scramble help to patients in Australia and Spain.
In the latest case, due to language difficulties, call centre staff asked for assistance from language line interpreters who can be called on at a moment's notice. While the staff in Brierley Hill stayed on the line, it became clear that the patient was in the town of Sudice, near Boskovice, and that he was unwell.
After getting details, staff at the centre tried to contact the ambulance service in the Czech Republic but this proved impossible due to the language barrier.
A call to the Czech Embassy also proved fruitless because of the Easter break, so the interpreter was brought back in and the incident passed to emergency crews in the Eastern European country.
No update on the patient's condition has been received but it is understood he was not in a life-threatening condition, said officials.
Darren Fradgley, regional head of WMAS' emergency operations centres, said: "Once more our staff have pulled out all of the stops to find a solution to a situation.
"They follow in the very best traditions of the ambulance service by getting the job done as quickly as possible in often difficult circumstances. This just goes to show the lengths they are prepared to go to ensure that that is the case."
