From March,dial 108 in emergencies

These ambulances would respond to a single telephone number —108 — and ferry accident and disaster victims to designated health institutions. The service is totally free for users.

While the move is expected to bring down the accident fatality rate in Punjab,which has shot up to over 3,600 deaths in a year,Health Minister Dr Laxmi Kanta Chawla is positive that these ambulances would also save lives of several heart patients and pregnant women who are not able to reach hospitals in time.

On October 30,the Department had signed an agreement with Ziqitza Health Care Ltd,Mumbai under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) for providing emergency response services. In the coming years,240 ambulances are to be stationed across the state.

The first 10 ambulances are expected to start operations from January-end. In the first phase,90 ambulances will be made functional. The ambulances would be monitored and directed from Amritsar.

Principal Secretary Health,Satish Chandra,says the emergency ambulances are expected to reach accident spots within 20 minutes in urban areas and 30 minutes in rural areas. But those already working in the field are not impressed.

Gursharan Singh,Secretary of Punjab Police State Apex Committee for Community Policing and First Aid Posts,says,“The state’s response to trauma management does not end with deploying

ambulances. The hospitals where the ambulances leave trauma victims are not ready to take on the responsibility. Most of the government hospitals which are located on the highways are the first to refer the patient to the nearest big city.”

The committee runs 108 trauma vans on all the major highways in the state in collaboration with Punjab Police.

“Our vans are pressed into action following a call to the number 100,which is of the police. In 2009,we ferried 8,328 accident victims to hospitals but how many got proper treatment in the hospitals we do not know,” he says.

“The state government is opening dedicated trauma centres within the premises of the civil hospitals in Amritsar,Jalandhar,Khanna and Pathankot as part of a World Health Organisation initiative. These centres would be dedicated to save the lives of accident victims and burn victims,” says Dr JP Singh,Director Health Services,Punjab.

Harman Sidhu,who runs the NGO Arrivesafe that deals with generating awareness about correct driving,adds that the number of fatal accidents in Punjab has gone up from 2,690 in 2001 to over 3,600 in 2009.

“And with the increase in vehicles and broadening of roads,the number of fatal accidents is bound to increase,” he says. For the state health department,getting to have an emergency response service in place has been a long haul. In 2008,the department tied up with Satyam for a fleet of ambulances but the agreement was cancelled after the company got entangled in a case of fraud.