Sunday, 23 October 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
As in the past years, the 108 emergency ambulance service has kept its entire fleet on an alert mode in view of the expected spurt in the number of cases of burns, other injuries and accidents during the festival of Deepawali. The service has made all preparations to effectively respond to the situation. All the employees of the service would remain on duty during the festival of lights. The general manager (projects) of the ambulance service, Anil Sharma took stock of the preparation of the ambulance service in a meeting with senior officers of the company. He said that the entire fleet of 272 ambulances has been kept on high alert and the employees have been asked to remain prepared for any emergency. He said that elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure that the ambulances stationed in the sensitive areas don’t get stuck in the traffic jam and the central call centre receives timely information about traffic issues.
In Dehradun, the ambulances would be stationed at Survey Chowk, Clock Tower, Jakhan, Raipur, Ballupur Chowk, Premnagar, Vidhan Sabha and Race Course during the Deepawali festival so that they can respond without delay. Sharma informed that during Dhanteras and Deepawali festivals last year (November 2 to 5), the service responded to 1,928 emergency calls. Out of these calls 152 were related to accidents, 58 cardiac diseases and 17 burn cases. Sharma disclosed that additional employees would be stationed at the central call centre of the service in view of an increase in number of calls during this period. He further informed that mobile teams have been constituted by the ambulance service which would remain operational from 8 am to 12 PM on Deepawali. Sharma added that 18 back up ambulances have also been deployed in the State.
Sharma added that the ambulances of Khushiyon Ki Sawari (KKS) have also been kept on alert to serve the mothers and their new born babies. He said that the KKS handled 627 cases from Dhanteras to Deepawali last year.
