PATNA: State health minister Mangal Pandey on Wednesday flagged off 104 new ambulances of the 'Dial 102' service from the State Health Society, Bihar (SHSB).
The health department has outsourced the call centre and operations of the 102 ambulances to a consortium of the Pashupatinath Distributors Pvt Ltd and Sammaan Foundation, Patna. The consortium has been asked to start the functioning of 100 medium basic life support ambulances (BSLA) and 150 small BSLAs. Of these 250 ambulances, 146 ambulances started functioning during the last four months. The remaining 104 were flagged off on Wednesday.
Sources said 749 ambulances were already functional under the 102 service in the past. With the additional 250 ambulances, the number of ambulances has gone up to 999 in all districts of the state. Besides, 60 mortuary vans are also functional under the '102' service.
"We have sought funds from the central government to procure 150 more ambulances," said Pandey.
The sources said a 50-seat call centre is being set up in Pataliputra Colony by the consortium for taking requisitions for the ambulances. The
ambulance service is provided free of cost to pregnant women, infants, senior citizens, BPL card holders, accident victims, kala-azar patients and children referred under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram.
The minister said apart from the free 102 service, 44 advanced life support ambulances were functioning in the state's 38 districts and six medical college and hospitals under '1099' service which costs the patient Rs 12 per km. Another 10 ambulances under the '108 ambulance service' are functional in Patna urban area and cost a patient Rs 300 per trip.
The minister also appealed to private doctors to join the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan. "As per the sample registration survey, nearly 208 pregnant women per lakh live birth die at the time of delivery in the state every year," said Pandey.
The minister also released a safe motherhood booklet for pregnant women. Altogether 16 lakh such booklets have been published for distribution in the state.
New hosp at Agamkuan
A 150-bed hospital constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore at Rajendra Memorial Research Institute (RMRI) at Agamkuan in Patna will be inaugurated by Union health minister J P Nadda, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi on January 19. This was announced by state health minister Mangal Pandey on Wednesday.
