National Ambulance Services Guidelines 2026: one standard for ambulances across India
The Union Health Ministry released the Operational Guidelines on National Ambulance Services 2026, the first national framework to standardise ambulance services in all states.
Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda released the Operational Guidelines on National Ambulance Services (NAS), 2026 at the 16th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare in New Delhi. It is the country's first comprehensive framework for running ambulance services the same way in every state and union territory.
Main points for ambulance owners and operators
- Vehicle standard: ambulances must meet AIS-125, the standard for the safety, design and equipment of emergency medical vehicles.
- Control rooms: integrated command and dispatch centres with GPS tracking, digital call handling, triage and real-time monitoring.
- Emergency number 112: ambulance services are to be linked step by step with the national 112 helpline.
- Mapping and placement: hospitals, ambulance stations and accident hotspots are to be mapped, and ambulances placed according to call data, traffic and population.
- Staff: competency-based training standards for Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).
The guidelines also cover ambulance categories, equipment and drugs, infection prevention, response-time benchmarks and quality checks.
Read the full report at the source: ETV Bharat
This is a summary written by the Ambulance Owner Association. The facts are from the source named above.