One toll-free number for all ambulances in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: With an aim to save lives of road accident victims, Odisha Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy today directed Health department officials to bring government and privately-run ambulance service providers under one call centre. The move will help in providing speedy health services to road mishap victims, said Tripathy during a review meeting of the Health department at Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.

The Chief Secretary asked ambulance service providers to install GPS machines in their vehicles. He also directed the Health department to install an online monitoring system for these emergency vehicles.

Reportedly, privately run ambulances are mostly operated by hospitals, NGOs, industries and corporations. A total of 1,562 private ambulances have been operating in the State. This apart, 512 ambulances are run by the State government and 19 by Fire Services department. Similarly, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been providing one ambulance for 50 kms road.

The Chief Secretary also asked the department officials to ensure that all the hospitals in the State provide high quality life saving treatment to road mishap victims during the first 48 hours after an accident.