india

Updated: Oct 19, 2019 22:28 IST

The Odisha government in order to underscore the need for strengthening ‘golden hour’ management with standard operating procedure for first 48 hours of free treatment, ordered to bring all ambulances under the umbrella of one common call center to provide earliest service to road accident victims today.

Chief secretary Asit Tripathy said that each ambulance is to be embedded with GPS trackers in order to locate the exact position to easily facilitate necessary assistance. He also said that all private and government hospitals have been directed to provide quality lifesaving treatment to road accident victims for the first 48 hours free of cost.

These ambulances have been named ‘108 Ambulances’ based on the emergency helpline number 108. Currently, 512 of these ‘108 Ambulances’ and 19 fire station ambulances are providing emergency services during the ‘golden hour’.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has also deployed one ambulance for a stretch of 50 kilometres of the national highway. Ambulances run by private hospitals, charity institutions, and corporate houses will also remain in operation. A first hand estimation shows 1562 of these private sector ambulances in operation.

The health and family welfare department will prepare the ‘technical standards’ for the registration process in accordance with the National Ambulance Code, according to officials from the state’s Commerce and Transport department.

The National Ambulance Code specifies number of equipment required, paramedic staff, medicines, and other lifesaving gadgets for an ambulance. The GPS tracking device will indicate its exact location and movement.

Sanjeeb Panda, the transport commissioner said that the Commerce and Transport departments will only register an ambulance if it satisfies the required technical standards.