PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
The 108 emergency ambulance service has kept its fleet on high alert to meet the high flow of distress calls on the festival of Holi. The service has cancelled the leaves of its staff and has pressed additional mobile teams for the festival in all the districts of the State. These mobile teams will assess the alertness of the staff deployed in the respective districts, primarily in Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, as well as other districts, during Holi, from 6 AM to 8 PM.
An additional 18 backup ambulances have also been deployed across the state so that in the event of an ambulance breakdown, a backup ambulance can be immediately deployed.
The General Manager (GM) projects, Anil Sharma took a meeting at the headquarters of the service on Monday to take stock of the preparations for Holi. He said that arrangements should be made to ensure that the ambulances don’t get stuck in traffic in Holi.
It is pertinent to mention here that the ambulance service receives more accident related calls on Holi. In view of the expected increase in the number of calls the service has decided to deploy additional technical staff in the central call centre.
In Dehradun ambulances have been deployed at key intersections in Dehradun, including Survey Chowk, Ghantaghar, Jakhan, Raipur, Ballupur Chowk, Prem Nagar, Vidhan Sabha, and Race Course, so that ambulances can be dispatched immediately in any direction upon receiving an emergency. He stated that the holidays of employees working at the 108 service, both in Dehradun and in all districts, have been canceled in view of Holi.
Emergencies like road traffic accidents, violent brawls, and food poisoning on account of intoxication are received by the ambulance service during the Holi. The experience suggests that maximum numbers of emergencies are received from Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital district on the day.
The service received 160 calls related to traffic accidents in three days (March 13 to 15) during Holi last year. It received a total of 1186 calls during these three days last year. The service has also decided to keep its fleet of ambulances in Khushiyon Ki Sawari (KKK) fully operational during Holi.
