The blatant violation of lane discipline on the Kozhikode-Kannur National Highway has hit the movement of emergency vehicles, especially ambulances carrying patients to city hospitals.
While most drivers are willing to make way for emergency vehicles, poor lane sense and reckless overtaking by some motorists result in huge traffic snarls.
No scientific mechanism
Ambulance drivers from the district say that they do not have access to a scientific mechanism at present to learn about traffic flow on the road and take diversions in case of blocks. On most occasions, they turn to the police helpline and wait for the arrival of officers to clear the route.
“Last Monday, I had a very disturbing experience while carrying a youth bitten by a snake from Koyilandy to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. We were stuck on the road for around 15 minutes,” said K.K. Purushothaman, an ambulance driver from Koyilandy. “Since the police succeeded in clearing the way after receiving our emergency call, we managed to save his life,” he added.
Mr. Purushothaman, one of the well trained ambulance drivers from the district in emergency life care, said the increase in the number of vehicles and the drivers’ tendency to flout traffic rules posed risks to ambulance services. “On the Kannur-Kozhikode highway, we come across several such annoying instances,” he added.
Traffic alerts
Office-bearers of the Active Network Group of Emergency Life Savers (ANGELS) said a modern GPS console with the ability to give regular traffic alerts could be introduced in the State. ANGELS, which was constituted to streamline the ambulance services under the Kozhikode district administration, would be able to undertake it on an experimental basis if the State government sanctioned the required funds, they added.
ANGELS executive director P.P. Venugopal said the facility could be experimented in around 600 ambulances linked to the network in Kerala. “Given the present scenario, we cannot think of creating separate paths for ambulances. The only viable option is to fix GPS consoles in vehicles,” he added.
