Now dial 100 and police will help you to get an ambulance

Thiruvananthapuram: Now you can dial

100

not only for seeking

police

help, but also for availing the service of an ambulance.

The police will help you find an ambulance and rush to save road accident victims in the state capital from Friday. The Indian Medical Association in association with the city police and ambulance drivers are launching

IMA network for trauma and emergency care

(

INTEC

), which will be inaugurated by chief minister Pinarayi Vjayan on Thursday.

About 100 ambulances in the city and ten private hospitals have come together as part of the initiative. “The aim of this mission is that no accident victim should lose his/her life due to delay in the availability of treatment. This networking of police, ambulance drivers and hospitals will help in providing emergency care without any delay,” said district IMA president Dr John Panicker.

The new network of ambulances will complement the existing

108

ambulance network in the district, which is being managed by the National Health Mission.

Once you dial 100, the police will help in finding the ambulance near to the accident spot and message will be communicated to the ambulance driver. The ambulance driver will rush to the spot, and with the help of police, will shift the victim to the nearest hospital. The ambulance driver will be informing the hospital first so that the coordinator at the hospital will be able to ensure necessary arrangements prior to admitting the patient, said Dr Sreejith N Kumar who has conceptualized the project.

“A software has been developed by the IMA and it is similar to the model of Uber and Ola to track the ambulances in the city. The control centre has been set up at the police control room which will help the police to track and monitor the ambulances. Already, necessary training has been provided to ambulance drivers and nurses. About 100 ambulance from the city has now joined hands with us,” said Dr John Panicker.

In addition to this, Dr Ramesh Kumar Foundation of the US will also be donating a state-of-the-art ambulance to the city police which will be handed over by the chief minister. The police will use this ambulance also to help road accident victims.

“The project is being launched on a pilot basis in the capital city. After monitoring the success of this it will be extended to the entire district within three months. The IMA is planning to introduce this network in two more districts within six months,” said Dr N Sulphi, state secretary of IMA.

The IMA is developing a mobile app such that the people will be able to demand the ambulance through this app. The app will help in locating the ambulance and nearby hospital which has trauma care facility, said Dr Sreejith N Kumar.