The much touted free ambulance service, inaugurated by the state government last month, proved to be of little use to 78-year-old Ajay Chakravarty.
Chakravarty, a cardiac patient, blacked out in his flat in the Vishwadarshan Housing Society at Samtanagar, Kandivali (East), on Wednesday evening. It took more than two hours for the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) ambulance on helpline 108 to reach his place and take him to the nearest cardiac care hospital.
"After my husband passed out, I was very confused," Chakravarty's wife Shila, 72, said. "I approached the neighbours for help."
Their neighbour PT Palnitkar, 81, an ex-railway official, said they asked for an ambulance on 108 at 8pm. "It took close to 20 minutes for the ambulance to reach our place," he said. "Since the stretcher was stuck, the doctor and the driver came up to the house with a bedsheet. Chakravarty was wrapped in that sheet and carried downstairs. We were appalled, to say the least."
Close to 40 minutes were wasted in transferring the patient to the vehicle. "Then the ambulance refused to start," Shila said. "All the neighbours pushed the vehicle for about 15 minutes, after which it started. We were giving dhakka to an ambulance!"
Chakravarty did not get any treatment in the golden hour because of all this delay, Palnitkar said. "He is in the intensive care unit of Karuna hospital in Borivli. Doctors have said his condition is not stable."
Bharat Vikas Group (BVG) Limited and UK-based UKSAS operate the fleet of ambulances through a call centre.
The state government made tall claims while inaugurating a fleet of these ambulances in Mumbai. There are close to 80, of which at least 20 have advanced life support facilities in the vehicles.
These 20 are supposed to have untra-modern scoop stretchers, oxygen support, defibrillators, syringe pumps, infusion pumps and ventilators.
Dilip Jadhav, consultant, EMS project, said BVG violated contract norms by not providing proper medical service in the golden hour. "The complaint will be looked into seriously. BVG is supposed to maintain the golden hour rule. Late arrival or departure will be investigated and the contractor will be heavily penalised."
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