The Business Bytes
PRIYABRAT BISWAL
BHUBANESWAR, JANUARY 1, 2021
In a bid to improve the performance of Emergency Ambulance Service in the State, particularly in tribal districts, and to meet the increasing demand for this service, the Odisha Government has made provision for additional 84 ambulances under the 108 fleet. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday virtually flagged off 84 Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances that will serve all corners of the state.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the state government is committed to improve the healthcare service which is a focus area of the 5-T initiatives and Mo Sarkar.
Urging the concerned authorities to create new benchmarks in the standard of medical services, the Chief Minister stressed on training of the ambulance staff to handle the patients and relatives empathetically.
State Health Minister Naba Kishore Das said, “In order to improve response time and to reduce number of cancelled calls, these additional 84 ambulances have been provided to different villages from coastal districts to far reach areas.” The state government is committed to provide free ambulance services to all poor and tribal people, he added.
The 108 Emergency Medical Ambulance Service was launched in Odisha on March 5, 2013. Operated through Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd , it has a state of the art call center at Bhubaneswar. Presently, it is operated with a fleet size of 518 vehicles covering all 30 districts, providing emergency medical services, free of cost to the people. The fleet has 456 “Basic Life Support” (BLS), 56 “Advanced Life Support” (ALS) and 6 boat ambulances.
Among other, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, ACS Health PK Mohapatra and NHM-Odisha Mission Director Shalini Pandit were present on the occasion.
