lIncreasing road mishaps put pressure on the 108 service lFour out of 34 ambulances not working lSeveral cases of delayed arrivals of ambulances in emergency cases in Mormugao
The growing number of road mishaps in Mormugao taluka has put an added pressure on the ambulances run by the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), making it difficult for these EMRI ambulances to reach an accident site within a few minutes.
Claiming that various logistical issues have contributed to the delay in attending to an emergency call, Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has admitted that 3 to 4 of the 34 EMRI ambulances are not in working condition, while new ambulances would be added to the fleet.
Introduced in 2008, there are around 34 ambulances stationed all over the State. The EMRI ambulances had been widely recognized for attending to emergencies in quick time, thereby saving the lives of people.
However of late, these ambulances have struggled to attend to emergency cases in the shortest possible time, especially given the growing number of road mishaps in Mormugao taluka.
“The 108 ambulances have reached much later than the expected time period and this has been the case on many occasions,” remarked an accident victim, Joaquim Fernandes.
Another resident, S Fernandes, who was badly injured in a road mishap a week ago, stated that the 108 ambulance reached the spot nearly 50 minutes after the call was made to 108.
Besides the delay in reaching the site, 108 ambulances have also been found to be ill-equipped in some emergency cases.
“When I witnessed a two-wheeler accident in Dabolim, the 108 ambulance was delayed and it reached the site after nearly 40 minutes. To make the matters worse, the ambulance was equipped with only one stretcher and the other injured person was carried away by the paramedic staff,” said a local, Clarence Vaz.
Many locals who voiced similar views felt that the government should introduce additional ambulances, given a rise in road mishaps and other cases which require the services of 108 ambulances.
When contacted, Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar sought to explain the difficulties facing the 108 ambulance services.
“A delay takes place only when the ambulance entrusted to the particular territory is busy attending to another emergency. In such cases, the ambulance of a neighbouring area is sent to the site of the emergency and this could lead to some delay in reaching the spot,” said Parsekar.
