With the addition of 198 more ambulances to the existing fleet of 517 vehicles under the 108 Arogya Kavacha scheme, the State government hopes to ensure that no medical emergency goes unattended within the golden hour.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who flagged off the new vehicles on Tuesday, said the idea was to provide one ambulance for less than 70,000 people. “As of now we have one ambulance for every 1 lakh,” he said.
Expressing concern over the increasing number of prank/unnecessary calls to the 108 call centre, the Chief Minister said: “People who make such calls are perverts. The police should tackle these people.”
Health Minister U.T. Khader said motorcycle ambulances would be launched in the first week of January. “We are also aiming at having air ambulances in the State. Several companies have come forward and in the next one year we hope to launch air ambulances too,” he said.
Khader’s advice to drivers, technicians
Mr. Khader asked the Arogya Kavacha ambulance drivers and technicians to ensure that they looked presentable so that patients did not get scared.
“Shave and trim your hair regularly. If you do not do that, I will have to sit with you with a pair of scissors,” he said.
