Bike, sea ambulances could be solution to traffic snarls

First responder (bike ambulance) made by ‘Sumeet SSG’

The Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) project provides pre-hospital health services to patients through life support ambulances, which transport them to the closest hospital for further treatment. The strategy is based on the "Golden Hour Theory," with the patient to be shifted within the first hour to the nearest hospital. Caregivers, those responsible, or the patient, if possible, can call a dedicated toll-free number 108. These services are available 24x7 through the year and offered ‘free of cost' to the patient.

Recently, a joint venture between an Indian and Spain-based company was announced with plans to introduce an advanced ambulance fleet with specialised medical equipment for use during the critical ‘golden hour' of emergencies. The new MEMS 108 Ambulance Project it was said, will be rolled out across the state in five phases in the coming months. The advanced ambulances will be equipped with technologies like Mobile Data Terminals (MDT), tablet PCs, RFID, GPS, caller location tracking, and CCTV. There are also first responder bikes and sea and river boat ambulances. The city's choked roads pose huge challenges for ambulance drivers.

Then, there is difficulty in accessing buildings which have approach roads that are encroached, or simply too narrow for ambulances.

We all must have witnessed an ambulance's siren wailing as if pleading for a way through a snarl. At times, drivers do want to give him right of way but simply cannot owing to traffic jams.

Let us try and be as empathetic as possible to ambulances, let us try to create our very own green corridors when we can. At the same time, government services must make every effort to reinvent emergency services, upgrade them so that there is more accessibility and the gap between healthcare for the privileged and underserved is also reduced. Hail the new life savers but keep ambulance etiquette top of the mind.