When 31-year-old Savitha, a resident of Banavadi near Nelamangala, reported pain, her family dialled 108 for an ambulance.
One kilometre away from her residence, as Ms Savitha writhed in pain, the paramedic on board did her best to comfort her. “I went through her medical reports and saw that her estimated date of delivery (EDD) was a month away. But as she complained of severe pain, I did an examination and found that she was ready to deliver,” Vanajakshi K.G., the paramedic, narrated.
Without wasting time, the ambulance was stopped by the roadside. With assistance of the ambulance pilot (driver), the paramedic helped Savitha deliver safely. “I felt happy that I could provide timely help to the woman. Although I had conducted deliveries in a hospital, this was my first in an ambulance. We got the woman admitted to the Nelamangala taluk hospital. Both the mother and baby are doing well,” she said.
This is not just a one-off case. Since its inception in 2008, the State-run 108 Arogya Kavacha emergency response service has attended to over 5.65 crore calls of which over 20.5 lakh were related to pregnancy. But more significantly, as many as 22,607 babies have been safely delivered on ambulances so far.
The ambulance service is operated by GVK EMRI. Abhinav K Jayaram, State Head, GVK EMRI, told The Hindu that 32% of the total calls that the service attends to are related to pregnancy. “We usually get such calls from remote villages that are far away from a hospital. We have also observed that most of these calls are from families that cannot afford to visit a hospital,” he said.
The free 108 Arogya Kavacha emergency service can be used for all kinds of medical emergencies, including road accidents and trauma care. People can dial 108 for cardiac problems, respiratory problems, diabetes, pregnancy-related emergencies, stroke/convulsions, suicide attempts, poisoning cases, assault/violence, animal attacks, neonatal emergencies, building collapse, fire, burns and hazardous material ingestion and even police-related cases such as accidents, assault, violence, robbery in progress, gambling, property offences, self-inflicted injuries and threat cases.
“We also provide pre-hospital care within the ambulance en route to the nearest hospital or to a hospital of the patient's choice. With a fleet of 711 ambulances, including 72 in Bengaluru, we operate round-the-clock on 365 days,” he said.
