The emergency number 102 for ambulance service is yet to make an impression among people perhaps due to lack of awareness.
Over the last 10 months since Raksha Angels (Active Network Group of Emergency Life Savers) ambulance network became operational, there has been a gradual increase in the number of callers, but the numbers had got stagnated after the initial rise.
The console at the General Hospital does receive a lot of calls, but not all calls get connected to the ambulance service. There were a lot of prank calls too and many called in just to know whether the service was available, said the console manager.
In December, there were a total of 17,273 calls recorded, but only 138 were actual connected calls. At the beginning of the service in February 2017, 16,045 calls had come in, but the actual calls that got connected were 45.
The highest numbers of connected calls, where the ambulance service was rendered was in July, when 198 calls were connected.
The console at the General Hospital controls the ambulance service by connecting the caller to the nearest ambulance driver. The calls had been a mix of accident-injury, home emergencies or hospital-to-home trips. On an average, there are about five to six calls a day that get connected for a service. The monthly average varies between 150 and 180 calls.
According to the console manager, it takes just about three to five minutes to reach the accident spot. All ambulance drivers have been trained in safely transporting the accident victims to hospital.
