108: The life saving number

108: The life saving number

Haridas K C

                Road accidents, contagious diseases, natural calamities, suicide attempts... whatever be the emergency, just call 108 free ambulance services and within minutes you will be in safe hands. The 108 ambulance service launched on May 19th 2010 at Thiruvananthapuram is creating a new history in emergency medical assistance.

                The 108 ambulance service is a joint venture of NRHM and Kerala Emergency Medical Services Project (KEMP) of the Kerala Health Department. As part of the pilot project, the twenty five ambulances in the district have been divided into eight clusters. These ambulances costing about Rs.33 lakh apiece are equipped with sophisticated emergency medical devices like Ventilator Defibrillator, Foetal Monitor, Pulse ox meter, Suction Apparatus and so on. Technical assistance has been provided by ZIQITZA Health Care, Mumbai.

                All technical facilities like receiving calls, locating and informing ambulance are completely controlled by a technical unit working within the premises of Techno Park. Automatic vehicle tracking system, GPRS facility and voice logger are the specialties of 108 Ambulance.

               

                So far, 108 has handled about 24,000 emergency cases of which 42% were accident cases, 17%   cardiac problems and 10% respiratory system related issues.  Every day they deal with approximately 175 cases. But there are instances of fake calls which disturb the smooth flow of. Recently it was decided to extend this service to Alappuzha as well.

Remember: Just dial 108 if you see an accident on your way home… You may save a valuable life.