Uttarakhand to replace about 50 old 108 ambulances after delay complaints
Uttarakhand's chief secretary ordered about 50 high-mileage 108 ambulances replaced and a monitoring team and tracking app set up after late-arrival reports.
Uttarakhand is reviewing its 108 ambulance service after reports of ambulances reaching patients late, and has decided to replace around 50 vehicles, according to an ETV Bharat report.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Expenditure-Finance Committee chaired by Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan at the Secretariat in Dehradun on Thursday. The state currently runs 272 ambulances under the 108 service.
What was decided
- About 50 ambulances that have each run more than 3 lakh km are to be replaced, in phases, without unnecessary delay.
- The National Health Mission is to form a dedicated team to monitor the 108 service.
- A mobile app is to be developed to track ambulance movement, and state-run ambulances are to be linked to the system.
- Instead of looking only at average response times, the team will examine the actual arrival time in each case to find the causes of delay.
- Monitoring will be weekly and monthly, and life-saving equipment in every ambulance must be checked each month, with named officers and staff responsible.
Why it matters for ambulance owners and drivers
Case-by-case response-time checks, mandatory monthly equipment audits and app-based tracking mean ambulance crews and operators connected to the service can expect closer scrutiny of vehicle condition and arrival times.
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.