Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth S. Senthil said that the 108 ambulance service has dramatically increased institutional pregnancies in the district. He was addressing at a small gathering outside his office after dedicating 7 additional 108 ambulance vehicles to public use here on Wednesday.
“Of 1,51,255 cases that 108 ambulance service handled in the district since its inception in September 2008, 1,20,394 were medical emergencies, 65,953 were pregnancy cases and 10,762 were injury cases. It has helped in increasing institutional pregnancies in the backward district,” he said.
According to him, the service handled over 10,000 acute abdomen cases, 4000 respiratory cases and 15,210 other cases.
He said that the 108 ambulance service was absolutely free right from the phone call till the point of reaching hospital. “Even when the nearest ambulance is unavailable for any reason, the next nearest ambulance is automatically activated and the caller is suitably informed about the details, including an approximate reach time, eliminating anxieties of callers in distress,” he added.
He called upon the public to make use of the service by calling for an ambulance in case of trauma, complaints related to cardiac, respiration, diabetes, pregnancy, stroke, suicide attempts, poisoning, assaults, animal attacks, fire, burns, hazardous material ingestion or any other medical issues.
To a question, the Deputy Commissioner said that all the ambulances in the district, except one or two, were functioning full-fledged. “Repairs and maintenance of ambulances are undertaken on regular basis to ensure their efficiency,” he said. With the additional seven ambulances, the total strength has now grown to 22 in the district, he added.
He asked the ambulance crew to swiftly respond to all calls irrespective of seriousness and distances of a case.
Chief Executive Officer of Raichur Zilla Panchayat Vijaya V. Jyothsna, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr. Narayan and others were present.
