Govt. to upgrade ambulance and call centre service

Bengaluru, Feb. 20: State government has accorded administrative approval for technology upgradation of arogya kavach – 108 ambulance service, which is aimed at providing health and emergency service, said health and medical education minister K. Sudhakar.

108 – Arogya kavach has been providing emergency services across the state. There is a need to enhance the modern facilities. Modern technology and new reforms will be adopted in the service, he said.

‘Golden hour’ is very crucial to save the lives of patients, expecially, the accident victims. Providing timely care helps saves lives of patients, he felt and added that therefore, the ambulance facility needs a comprehensive upgradation.

As per the National Health Mission (NHM) guidelines for every one lakh population basic Life Support (BLS) and one ambulance service should be provided. One advance life support and ambulance service is required for every five lakh population. If the number of casers are four or more and if the ambulance has to travel 120 kms on daily basis, an additional ambulance to be provided.
The government intends to comply with the NHM guidelines and aims to increase the ambulance fleet to 750 from the existing 710. The government plans to purchase 380 ambulances and 340 existing old ones will be replaced, he assured.

Upgradation of call centre:
Call centre or command centre plays vital role in providing ambulance services. The call centre which is a bridge between the ambulance service staff and public will be upgraded to meet the requirement. The capacity of the call centre will be increased to 75 from existing 54.

GPS tracking for the ambulance, biometric attendance for the call centre staff, live streaming of ambulance, online human resource management, electronic data maintenance of patient care and grievance services will be provided.

About Author