Police to clear traffic for ambulances on receipt of call from drivers, hospitals

This system has been devised following a directive from the High Court

The Bengaluru city police on Thursday told the High Court of Karnataka that ambulance operators, both public and private, can now contact the traffic police control room to seek assistance for clearance of traffic to reach the place of the needy patients requiring emergency medical service and to shift them to hospitals.

The ambulance operators will have to call 100, 08022943131, 08022943030 or 08022943663 and these numbers would be shared to all the hospitals, government and private, and private nursing homes for sharing them to their respective ambulance staff to contact the traffic control room, the State government said in its statement.

This method has been devised following a court direction that a simple system should be in place till the government’s proposed hi-tech ambulance management system is implemented as the new system has not been approved by the authorities.

A statement in this regard was been submitted before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice M. Nagaprasanna during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by Bharat Punarothana Trust, Bengaluru, a social organisation.

The officer at the police traffic room, on receipt of a call from the ambulance staff or hospital authorities or attendants of patients, will instruct the police officers and personnel on duty en route to clear the traffic for ambulance, the government stated.

The government said these numbers were being publicised on social media pages of the city police and have also been sent to the Department of Information and Public Relations for advertising in newspapers.

Besides, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), in a communication issued on July 7, issued instructions to station house officers to collect the details of government and private hospitals, nursing homes, and their contact details. Also, the jurisdictional police have been told to sensitise hospital staff and ambulance operators to use the traffic control number for assistance.

The Bench adjourned further hearing till August 13 asking the State to fix an outer limit for approving the proposed hi-tech system.