The death of five persons in two separate incidents, involving private ambulances, has prompted the Transport Department to keep a tab on the ‘activities’ of these ambulances.
An ambulance has to be given the right of way and can even jump the red signal in emergency. The proliferation of private ambulances is, no doubt, good for the people, as they are useful not only to carry patients to hospitals but also to transport the dead to the grave. The second reason is turning out to be ‘lucrative’ for the unscrupulous private operators, who are out to make a fast buck.
It may be recalled that an ambulance, carrying passengers, hit a school bus near Vizianagaram, resulting in the death of three persons recently. In another case, an ambulance driver, who was in an inebriated condition, ran his vehicle over two persons, resulting in their instantaneous death at Makavarapalem in Visakhapatnam district.
One cannot deny the fact that the private operators are also doing ‘yeomen service’ in transportation of the dead to the grave.
Regular taxi operators or, for that matter even autorickshaw drivers, would normally refuse to transport a body and the few who agree could charge a fortune for ‘their service’. The ambulance operators charge much lesser than the cab drivers and in that sense they are doing a better service.
But, some private ambulance providers are using their ‘ambulance tag’ to flout the rules with impunity. This is often resulting in accidents. “We do not stop an ambulance, when it goes with the siren and emergency light blinking. The unscrupulous operators are taking this as advantage to carry out their activities,” said a source in the Transport Department.
“Registration of two ambulances, involved in the accidents, was cancelled for a year and driving licenses of both the drivers were cancelled permanently,” Deputy Transport Commissioner S. Venkateswara Rao said. There are 437 registered ambulances in the district and a vast majority of them are in the private sector.
The EMRI 108 ambulances, which function with government support, are run by trained pilots (ambulance drivers) and are provided with EMTs (emergency medical technicians). They are equipped with advanced life support systems to treat the accident victim till he/she is shifted a hospital.
“A vigil on ambulances after the two accidents has revealed that 26 private ambulances in the district were plying without payment of mandatory taxes. The other violations include: taking private passengers in the ambulances, driving under the influence of alcohol and without valid licence,” Mr. Venkateswara Rao said.
