Cleaning of 108 ambulances, mortuary vans restricted in CMCH

Operators of 108 ambulance and Government-run free hearse service have complained of apathy from the side of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital in allowing crew to clean the vehicles inside its premises.

They said that the ambulances and hearse vehicles were earlier allowed to be cleaned inside CMCH campus.

However, the present administration does not allow the crew to do so, they say. Hence, many vehicles are cleaned near the Valankulam for the last five days, they add.

“The 108 ambulances were used to be cleaned near the old mortuary. Water cleaning is required only when there is a bleeding or vomiting from the patient transported in the ambulance. While the water used to be let into the drain, cotton waste used for wiping were disposed of properly in designated bins for medical waste. Now, authorities have informed us that ambulances cannot be cleaned inside the premises,” said an official from GVK EMRI which operates 108 ambulance.

With a fleet of more than 30 vehicles, 108 ambulances bring 90 patients to CMCH a day on an average. This includes referral cases from other hospitals.

The crew of an ambulance is given all materials for cleaning within the ambulance itself. In most cases, even water wash is not required as blood stains are wiped off using cotton waste and antiseptic cleaning lotion.

In the case of free hearse service, functioning under toll free number 155377, operators say that cleaning the freezer in each vehicle has to be done after every trip.

As of now, a fleet of 10 mortuary vans are based at CMCH. On an average, they transport 30 dead bodies to various places from the hospital a day. In a month, they transport not less than 750 bodies.

Sources with the hospital administration said that cleaning of ambulances and mortuary vans inside the campus was restricted to keep the campus clean. Also, biomedical waste generated through cleaning blood from the vehicles was a burden for the hospital.

They added that the hospital administration was not keen on providing the facilities as both services are not functioning under its control.